No new liquor vends in Ladakh, L-G Brig BD Mishra to Excise Dept

Arjun Sharma

Jammu, January 2

Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh, Brig BD Mishra (retd) has asked the Excise department to not allow any new liquor vends in the Union Territory for which many representations have been submitted with his office by social and religious organisations.

It has been learnt that Mishra has asked the Commissioner Secretary, Excise, Kacho Mehboob Ali Khan, to not allow any new liquor shops in Ladakh.

The decision was taken after a delegation of Ladakh Buddhist Association led by its member Tsering Norboo met the Lieutenant Governor at the secretariat. The delegation came from Sham area of the Union Territory and urged the L-G not to allow any new liquor shops and bars. Many other delegations have also met the L-G in this regard in the past.

As per the Excise policy of Ladakh, the licenses for operating liquor vends classified as Type A, are granted to residents of the UT only. In the Excise police for year 2023-24, the UT administration also encouraged transition from high to low alcoholic content beverages by allowing micro-breweries.

Meanwhile, the Lieutenant Governor has also asked Leh DC to look into the issue of the purchase of new fire engines along with taking up the matter with Ladakh police to train its personnel to maintain and operate the fire engines.

In another meeting, professional paraglider instructor from Ladakh Flying School, Stanzin Sonam informed that he has been selected for the 8th Thailand Paragliding Accuracy ASEAN Friendships Open (FAI-CAT II)-AFA Nation League 2024 and Paragliding Accuracy World Cup to be held in Thailand in the month of February. He requested financial assistance for the procurement of necessary paragliding equipment and to cover expenses for participation in the said events.

Stating that he wants to provide exposure and training to sportspersons from Ladakh so that they can compete and participate at the highest level, the L-G asked Kacho Mehboob Ali Khan to get in touch with the Army to coordinate Stanzin’s training and other required facilities. He also stated that he wants to see 10-15 youth from Ladakh trained in paragliding by Stanzin.