Residents of Bijipur demonstrating against the opening of a liquor shop in their locality in Berhampur.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
The Bharatiya Janata Party-led government, on Thursday (August 8, 2024), said that Odisha would not allow the opening of new liquor shops in the State and stop sale of illicit liquor in the market.
“We have taken a decision that no new liquor shop will be allowed in the State. We are going to simplify the existing excise policy,” said State Excise Minister Prithiviraj Harichandan.
“We have identified some complexities in the existing excise policy. Our focus is to prevent illicit distillation and clandestine trade. Efforts are on to address all these issues. By next year, the excise policy will be comprehensively examined and new policy will be prepared,” he said.
Excise revenue is one of the major sources of income for the State There are 1163 foreign liquor ‘off’ shops, 702 ‘on’ shops, 19 ‘on’ clubs, 56 beer parlours, and 36 military canteens in the State by the last financial year. The excise revenue has almost quadrupled in a 10-year period from ₹1780.29 crore in 2013-14 to ₹6455.06 crore in 2022-23.
The statement of Mr. Harichandan came after the ST and SC development, Minorities and Backward Classes Welfare Department Minister Nityananda Gond made a comment that the BJP government intends to minimise the consumption of liquor in the State. He termed liquor consumption a big menace in rural areas.
In his maiden Budget, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi announced that drug de-addiction centres will be established in every district with provisions for rehabilitation and treatment of drug-dependent persons. A budgetary provision of ₹20 crore has been made for the programme. Apart from efforts to prevent drug abuse, liquor consumption would be brought down, an excise department official said.
On July 31, Excise Special Secretary Archana Das Pattnaik wrote to the Excise Commissioner informing them that no new excise shop would be settled in the rural areas for the present. The government, however, extended the existing excise policy (Excise Fee, Duty and Margin Structure along with Regulatory Guidelines) for the year 2024-25 for a period of one month.
