Naidu Chooses Public Health Over Revenue

The TDP-led government in Andhra Pradesh will roll out a new bar policy from September 1, giving priority to public health and safety over revenue generation. Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, during a review meeting, stressed the need to reduce the harmful impact of alcohol, by selling low-alcohol content beverages. He said that the poor were the most affected due to consumption of cheap liquor and wanted the officials to focus on reducing the impact of alcohol on the health.

A cabinet sub-committee has been constituted to draft the new policy and basing on the recommendations, lottery system will be introduced for the allocation of bar licenses.

Even in the allocation of bar licenses, 10 per cent would be reserved for the BCs, similar to the quota existing in liquor retail outlets.

At present, the state has 840 bars and it is being estimated that the new policy would generate Rs 700 crore through licenses and application fees.

According to the officials, each license will require a minimum of four applicants, under the new policy and the license fee will be calculated basing on the population of the area. For areas with fewer than 50,000 people, the fee would be Rs 35 lakh, for those with a population up to 5 lakh the fee is Rs 55 lakh and for those exceeding 5 lakh population, a fee of Rs 75 lakh would be levied.

The officials also informed the CM that there is a surge in the sale of liquor at the state borders as Andhra Pradesh was offering all major liquor brands at lower prices and better quality compared to neighbouring states.

The officials also told Naidu that there is significant progress in cracking down on illicit liquor. Till now, 12 districts have been declared completely free of illicitly distilled (ID) liquor. Officials are planning to make more districts ID-liquor free in the next couple of months by taking necessary measures.