Anti-liquor drive: Sangrur district again tops charts

Parvesh Sharma

Tribune News Service

Sangrur, January 15

Known for their anti-liquor stand, the Sangrur district panchayats this year too topped in passing resolutions against liquor vends in 2018-19 financial year. Resolutions are passed in advance.

However, some NGOs that work to motivate panchayats have decided to meet the Chief Minister as the panchayat alleges that after the closure of liquor vends, smuggling starts.

“According to the latest information, 59 panchayats of various districts of Punjab have passed resolutions to close liquor vends in their respective villages. Out of the total, 16 are from Sangrur, followed by Patiala with 10. Sangrur has been on top since the start of our campaign in 2009,” said Dr AS Mann, president of the Scientific Awareness and Social Welfare Forum (SASWF), which along with other NGOs have been motivating panchayats to pass resolutions against liquor vends.

The Punjab Excise and Taxation Department will approve the resolutions after checking whether all panchayats fulfil the mandatory norms. Panchayats can close liquor vends in their villages by passing resolutions under Section 40 of the Punjab Panchayat Raj Act.

Since the start of the anti-liquor campaign by Sangrur NGOs in 2009, Sangrur district panchayats have passed 387 resolutions against liquor vends in their villages, while from all over the state, the excise authorities have received a total of 967 resolutions.

Of the total, 493 resolutions were approved and vends closed till date, of which 158 vends were closed in Sangrur district.

“Many panchayats from various districts have been alleging that some people start smuggling liquor in their villages after the closure of liquor vends in their villages. We have decided to take up the issue with Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh,” said Mann.