LSP asks Rights panel to halt liquor shop auction

Lok Satta Party (LSP) on Thursday sought the State Human Rights Commission’s intervention in halting liquor shop auctions scheduled to begin in the first week of June.

Lok Satta leaders Katari Srinivasa Rao and V Laxman Balaji made a representation to this effect to State Human Rights Commission Chairman Justice Subhashan Reddy.

They pointed out that dealers who obtained liquor shop licenses by paying astronomical amounts as bid money sought to maximize their sales and revenue by opening unauthorized outlets.

Quoting a NIMHANS survey for WHO, the party recalled that while the government would earn a revenue of Rs 15,000 crore on liquor sales during the Excise Year, the people would lose Rs 16,900 crore by way of healthcare costs.

They claimed the State Government has also ignored the Union Health Ministry's advice that the State Health Department be entrusted with the responsibility of formulating a comprehensive liquor policy keeping people’s health in mind, according to a press release here. The Excise Department, on the contrary, did not bother about people’s health since its interest lay in maximizing liquor revenue, they claimed.