Only Liquor Corporation can tame liquor mafia in the state: Harpal Singh Cheema

Only Liquor Corporation can tame liquor mafia in the state: Harpal Singh Cheema

Cheema writes to Chief Minister over the emerging situation in the state

Nabaz-e-Punjab Bureau, Chandigarh, May 13
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Punjab senior leader and Leader of Opposition (LoP) Harpal Singh Cheema said that the root cause of the wordy brawl between the top government brass and ministers-legislators in Punjab erupted only over the share of money in the liquor trade. He said that if the Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh’s heart batted for Punjab and Punjabis, he should implement the new excise policy in the state beginning this year through Government Liquor Corporation, which he should set up soon. The AAP leader said that the exercise would not only fetch Rs 18,000 crore to the empty public exchequer against the current target of Rs 6,200 crore, but would also eliminate liquor mafia from the state.
In a statement issued from party headquarters on Wednesday, Cheema said, in a letter to Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, that the setting up of a state-owned liquor corporation would not only salvage the state from the current economic, administrative and constitutional crisis but would also replenish the empty coffers of the government.
The LoP said in his letter: “It is unfortunate that your ministers and top government officials are fighting over the share of billions of rupees in the nefarious liquor trade, instead of helping out the people of Punjab fighting the big battle against Corona epidemic and economic emergency”
Cheema said that at this hour of global distress, home delivery of liquor was not the priority for the government, but the delivery of rations to the poor and needy at doorstep, saying that Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal, Cabinet Ministers Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Charanjit Singh Channi, Bharat Bhushan Ashu, and advisor Amarinder Singh Raja Warring should have, instead of fighting with the officials over the share of the ‘booty’, should have mitigated the sufferings of the people they were subjected to due to the extended lockdown.
Cheema said the allegations against the Chief Secretary, Karan Avtar Singh, were about his son’s involvement in the liquor trade and the alleged politicians’ patronage to the liquor mafia. He said that keeping in view the seriousness of the allegations, the Chief Minister would do well by setting up a high-powered Commission of Inquiry into the allegations under the supervision of High Court so that those behind the nefarious deal could be brought to public domain.
Cheema said the Arvind Kejriwal government in Delhi and some states of the country were taking advantage of the state-owned liquor corporation model, adding that Punjab should also adopt this model without any further delay.