The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Another anti-liquor struggle on the cards

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jun 19, 2006

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Another anti-liquor struggle on the cards

Staff Reporter

Jana Vignana Vedika to hold State-level conference on the issue on June 25

HYDERABAD: The stage is set for another anti-liquor struggle throughout the State.

Jana Vignana Vedika (JVV) president V. Lakshman Reddy told press persons here on Sunday that having floated the proposal for an all-out struggle after a meeting on May 7, a State-level conference was proposed here on June 25.

Among the organisations in the proposed struggle were the Lok Satta and a dozen active women's organisations spearheaded by Malladi Subbamma, who was among those who led the first agitation a few years ago.

Time to act

Mr. Reddy said it was time for conscientious people to confront forces that were promoting liquor consumption. Providing figures, he said while a nip (180 ml bottle) of liquor cost just Rs. 4 to distil, it was being sold at an average of Rs. 40.

Licence fee

He said that the Government had collected Rs. 800 crores as licence fee from liquor traders. In order to make a tidy profit, traders needed to sell liquor worth at least Rs. 12,000 crores. Of this, cheap liquor accounted for more than 80 per cent and also took a heavy toll of lives.

Lok Satta coordinator D.V.V.S. Varma, Andhra Pradesh Mahila Samakhya general secretary Prem Pavani, State Prohibition Council president B.Ch. Ranga Reddy and freedom fighter K.B. Tilak were present.

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