Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala has alleged that the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government led by Pinarayi Vijayan has given permission for three breweries and one distillery in a secret manner without a policy decision or Cabinet sanction.
Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday, Mr. Chennithala said the government issued separate orders at varying points of time before the big floods and after the floods between June and September for setting up the breweries.
The breweries are by Sreedharan Brewery Private Ltd at Varam village in Kannur for the production of five-lakh cases of beer, Apollo Distilleries and Breweries Private Ltd at Elapully village in Palakkad district for the production of five hecta-litres of beer and Power Infratech Private Ltd at the Kinfra Industrial Park in Ernakulam in a 10-acre plot.
In the case of the proposed brewery in Ernakulam, the capacity was not mentioned. Srichakra Distilleries Private Ltd got permission for the production of Indian Made Foreign Liquor, but the order for this did not specify the location and manufacturing capacity.
He alleged that there was big-time corruption behind this secret decision that had come at a time when the focus was on flood rehabilitation. The move to sanction the new liquor units did not figure in the annual Abkari policy of the State for 2018-19, the Governor’s Address to the Assembly, the budget proposals of the Finance Minister, not to mention the political sanction of the LDF committee. The Opposition leader wanted a comprehensive inquiry into the allegations.
Mr. Chennithala said that this was the first time in 17 years that the State government had given sanction for setting up liquor manufacturing units under the dubious argument of generating employment. The notifications were issued even while a 1999 government order by the then Taxes Secretary Vinod Rai barring sanction of new liquor units was in force. The 1999 order, he recalled, was issued after the Nayanar government’s move to sanction liquor units ran into a controversy.
