129 panchayats oppose liquor vends

Ravinder Saini

Tribune News Service

Jhajjar, January 15

As many as 129 panchayats in Rewari, Jhajjar and Mahendragarh districts of Haryana have opposed setting up of liquor vends in their villages in the coming 2019-20 fiscal. The panchayats have urged the excise and taxation authority not to allot liquor vends in their villages by passing a resolution in this respect.

Sources say a majority of these panchayats blames liquor vends for vitiating peaceful environment.

“Of the 129 panchayats that have submitted their resolutions with the authority up to December 31 last year, 82 are from Rewari, 32 from Mahendragarh and 15 from Jhajjar district. The number of such panchayats has gone up in Rewari, while there has been a decline in Mahendragarh and Jhajjar districts as compared to the last fiscal,” said sources.

They maintained 53 gram panchayats in Rewari had submitted resolutions last fiscal, while the figure was 36 and 21 in Mahendragarh and Jhajjar districts, respectively. On the basis of the resolutions, the higher authority decided against opening liquor vends in 21 villages of Rewari and 17 of Jhajjar district.

“A panchayat has to fulfil two conditions while demanding closure of liquor vend in the village — it has to pass a resolution and submit it to the authority before December 31, and there shouldn’t be any case of sale or seizure of illicit liquor in the village during the past three years,” said RK Nain, Deputy Excise and Taxation Officer (DETC), Narnaul.

Jhajjar DETC Narendra Kaushik said panchayats were still submitting resolutions against setting up of liquor vends and these were being forwarded to the higher authority, which would take a final call by the end of this fiscal.