Formation of Liquor Corporation only way forward to tackle mafia: Harpal Singh Cheema

Formation of Liquor Corporation only way forward to tackle mafia: Harpal Singh Cheema

Setting up of ERG under the watch of other ministers a stamp on captain’s inefficiency: Aman Arora

Setting up of SIT, ERG over illicit liquor mafia, mere political gimmickry: AAP

Nabaz-e-Punjab Bureau, Chandigarh, June 7:
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Punjab has termed the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) and Excise Reform Group (ERG) by Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh to tame the liquor mafia active in the state, a mere drama to grab eyeballs, saying that the only way forward to effectively take on the liquor mafia and replenish the empty state coffers was the formation of government liquor corporation.
In a statement issued from party headquarters in Chandigarh on Sunday, senior leader of the party and Leader of Opposition (LoP) Harpal Singh Cheema and Sunam MLA Aman Arora accused Capt. Amarinder Singh of extending a protective patronage to all kinds of mafias in the state, toeing the footprints of the previous Badal government.
Harpal Singh Cheema said that the Special Investigation Team (SIT), headed by his favorite Minister Sukhbinder Singh Sukh Sarkaria and now a five-member Excise Reform Group to be headed by cabinet Minister to be headed by another minister Vijay Inder Singla to look into the illegal sale and smuggling of liquor in the state, saying it was nothing but a well thought-out design to hoodwink the common man.
Cheema said had the Chief Minister been a tad serious about eradicating the liquor mafia, he would have formed the much talked about liquor corporation, a la the Arvind Kejriwal government in Delhi and Tamil Nadu governments had done.
Taking a swipe at the Chief Minister, Aman Arora said that the formation of Excise Reform Group was nothing but a sham, which would end up in a fiasco in the end, saying that by forming an Excise Reform Group under the ministers holding different portfolios, Capt. Amarinder Singh had confessed on record that he was not capable of running the Excise Ministry in a manner it should run.
Arora said that the Chief Minister should now confess in the public that running the Ministry of Power and Agriculture was his baby now, adding that due the inept handling of these ministries billions of rupees were being squandered away from the government exchequer due to the one-sided power purchase agreements (PPAs) signed by the previous Badal government with private power companies, adding that the recent seed scam involving thousands of crores under the Agriculture Department, which had proved beyond doubt that Capt Amarinder Singh had not only failed as Chief Minister, but also as Excise Minister and Minister of Agriculture and Power as well.
Describing the formation of State Liquor Corporation as the need of the hour, Aman Arora said that during his inaugural budget session (2017), Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal had categorically said that state liquor corporation would be set up in 2018, saying he (Manpreet Singh Badal) had bowed down before the liquor mafia. Arora claimed the issue had been brought to the notice of the House through a Private Member Bill, but to no avail.
Harpal Singh Cheema and Aman Arora said that if the Captain government failed to set up a government liquor corporation during his concluding stint in power, the AAP, if succeeded in forming its government in 2022, it would set up the much-awaited liquor corporation soon after assuming power, thereby opening up the window of job opportunities for the youth.