CID probe soon into irregularities in liquor sales: Chandrababu Naidu

Amaravati, July 24 : Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday said the state government would soon order a probe by the CID into the large-scale irregularities in the Excise Department during the YSR Congress Party rule.

Releasing a White Paper in the Assembly on the excise policy of the previous government, he said that the support of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) would be sought too as liquor was sold accepting only cash payments.

The Chief Minister alleged that the state suffered a loss of Rs 18,860.51 crore with the change in liquor policy after the YSRCP came to power in 2019. Action will certainly be taken for causing such a huge loss to the exchequer, he said, adding that the details will be sought from the Health Department on how many people suffered from serious health problems due to consumption of spurious liquor.

Asserting that the economic condition of the state is alarming, Naidu said a detailed study is yet to be conducted on this. "Because of the poor financial condition of the state, we are now not in a position to present a full-fledged budget," he added.

"This white paper is being released only to explain to the people what exactly had happened to the state in the past five years, the loss that the state had suffered and what kind of serious damage caused to the state," Chandrababu Naidu contended.

White Papers have already been released on Polavaram, Amaravati, energy and how the natural resources were looted.

Stressing the need to create wealth by maintaining a balance of welfare and development, Naidu regretted that the state, however, had suffered so heavily in the past five years that it would take a minimum of 25 years to recover.

The past five-year rule is a case study on how governance should not be undertaken and former Chief Minister, Jagan Mohan Reddy, too is a case study on what the head of the state should not be, he observed. He stated that if all the seven White Papers are thoroughly gone through, one can easily understand how the previous rulers betrayed the state.

Recalling that the YSRCP came to power by making a promise to impose prohibition in the state and also bring down the sale of liquor besides confining the liquor supply to only five-star hotels, the Chief Minister said that after it assumed power, 4,380 shops that were existing at that time were brought down to only to 2,934 as just an eye-wash. Within one year, the number was increased to 3,392 while continuing the number of bars which were existing in 2019. The per capita consumption of liquor increased to 6.23 litres in 2023-24 from 5.55 litres in 2019-20. Ganja smuggling went up by 27 per cent, while the non-duty paid liquor percentage increased to 66 and the number of arrests too went up to a whopping 161 per cent, he said.

The popular brands of beers too were brought down completely while the sale of local brands, which were never found anywhere in the country, had increased from zero to 12 lakh. In the name of liquor, loans were raised for a period of 10 to 25 years, Naidu said, terming it a big defrauding of the state in the country's history.

Making it clear that an operation cleansing will soon be taken up in the Excise Department, he said that keeping in view the health condition of the people all the cheap brands of liquor will be banned.