Bhubaneswar, Mar 31: Terming consumption of liquor a personal affair, Odisha Excise and Co-operation Minister Damodar Rout has said that imposition of prohibition in the state is unrealistic.
“It is not a realistic step to declare total prohibition in the State. Since liquor consumption is a personal affair, ban on it by the government would lead to illegal and illicit trade of liquor,” Excise Minister Damodar Rout said on Wednesday in his reply to a written question by BJD legislator Amar Prasad Satapathy in the Assembly.
The Minister said the Excise department is taking steps to check consumption and manufacturing of illicit liquor across the State. He said the excise directorate has no information about any bill for total prohibition in the State.
Except Bihar, there is no instance of total prohibition in neighbouring states, he said.
Rout said the State government earned Rs 2,085.99 crore as excise revenue till February in the current financial year.
It collected Rs.2,038.79 crore in 2014-15, Rs.1,780.29 crore in 2013-14 and Rs.1,499.91 crore in 2012-13, he stated, adding the State government has issued a notification in January 2014 to relocate liquor shops 50 km away from national and state highways. Out of 704 liquor shops, the excise commissioner has issued instructions to relocate 529 shops and work was in process to move the remaining shops.
