Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has given freedom to his Ministers to review decisions taken by the BJP government during the last four months of its term.
The Jagadish Shettar government had taken a slew of decisions — including land allotment to temples and educational institutions — before the announcement of Assembly elections.
Minister for Excise Satish L. Jarkiholi told presspersons on Saturday that the Chief Minister had given the “liberty” to all Ministers to “review decisions” of the previous government.
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Steps would be taken to set up a special fund to implement rehabilitation measures for those into production of spurious liquor, the Minister said.
He said 80 villages in the districts of Bijapur, Bagalkot, Gadag and Belgaum where spurious liquor was manufactured had been identified, and most of the inhabitants were members of the deprived sections. Permission from the Finance Department would be sought to retain 1 per cent of revenue generated by the department in a year to set up the fund, he said.
The Excise Department revenue was Rs. 12,000 crore a year. The fund would be used for those who would have no means of livelihood after the destruction of illicit liquor centres, he said.
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Mr. Jarkiholi directed the officials to take steps to make the State free from the illicit liquor menace. The department had set a target of generating Rs. 12,400 crore in 2013–14. The department’s revenue in 2012–13 was Rs. 11,088 crore.