The ‘kitties' of excise and police officials working in Hyderabad and its outskirts will be lighter by nearly Rs 80 lakh to Rs 1 crore this month, as liquor traders have stopped paying them the monthly ‘mamools', thanks to the ongoing ACB investigation into ‘mamoolgate'.
The ‘untainted' liquor traders mustered courage of not paying this month's ‘mamool', after higher-ups of Excise and Prohibition department asked them not to pay. Perhaps, this incredulous advice had something to do with the meeting between the liquor traders' association delegation and Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy two days ago. Mr. Reddy was told point blank that the protection money was being paid only because of the blackmail tactics of officialdom.
Well-planned system
A back-of-the-envelope calculation shows that each liquor shop shells out amounts ranging from Rs 13,500 to Rs 17,500 per month, while the bars pay up much higher amounts like Rs 30,000 each to excise and police officials. There are as many as 400 liquor shops in Hyderabad and its outskirts and the number of bars is 90.
The mamool system involving the liquor traders is so well established that the money changes hands punctually and is understandably shared by the rank and file of the two major law enforcement agencies.
There are not many instances of politicians and journalists being on the regular payrolls in the State capital, inquiries with liquor traders reveal. However, while politicians are known to collect money during festivals like Bonalu, Ganesh Chavithi or Dasara, journalists are stated to be collecting bottles of liquor now and then.
Insiders of the trade say monthly payments by each liquor shop would be: Rs 5,000 to Station, Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000 to Deputy Commissioner, Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,500 to Enforcement team (from Excise and Prohibition department); Rs 5,000 to police station, Rs 2,000 to ACP, Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,500 to Task Force (in some areas); Rs 500 to beat constables/patrol teams (Police Department).
Proxy ownership
The other reason why the politician is not on the regular payrolls, as was disclosed in some districts, is that many of them own the liquor shops by proxy or their henchmen are the licensees.
There are noticeable changes in operation of the liquor trade in the State capital and its outskirts. There is not much of MRP violation because of the tough competition among traders. The MRP violations are noticed mostly on the outskirts.
“In some cases, they may be overcharging. But that was never an issue as the extra money we collect is spent towards buying small coins”, a liquor trader explains.
There is another interesting argument justifying the overcharging the customer. Traders say the ‘special margin' money on every bottle sold, paid to government is included in the MRP.
The officials know about this and generally they overlook minor MRP violations, traders disclose.
