Hyderabad: In a fresh attack on the ruling Congress government, former minister and senior Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader Harish Rao said the administration had “opened the doors to fresh corruption” in the Telangana’s Excise Department.
During a “Chit Chat” programme at Telangana Bhavan, the Siddipet MLA claimed that licences for microbreweries and liquor outlets were allotted through political and ministerial quotas. “This is just an excise scam was another in a series of scandals that would be exposed, including those related to Singareni,” he said.
According to him, the Telangana Excise Department received 110 applications for microbrewery licences, of which 25 were allegedly earmarked under political quotas. “As many as 21 licences were kept aside under the quota of a key leader, while four were reserved under a minister’s quota,” he said, without revealing the name.
“Unofficial agreements were struck to collect Rs 1.80 crore per licence, with Rs 1.50 crore meant for the main leader and Rs 30 lakh for intermediaries acting on his behalf,” he said.
The Legislature Party Deputy Floor Leader also accused the government of issuing wine shop licences to select individuals without following the mandatory lucky draw process. “For the first time in the state’s history, liquor supply companies are facing pending dues of nearly Rs 4,500 crore, with payments not released for the last 16 months,” he said.
He alleged that this favouritism has forced several multinational liquor companies to stop their services in Telangana. “Several multinational liquor companies have written to the government, warning that they will stop supplies due to non-payment of dues,” he said, adding it would seriously affect state revenue.
On the current water situation faced by farmers of Telangana, Harish Rao lashed out at the Congress government said that while 40,000 acres in Sangareddy district, and about 30,000 acres under Ghanpur face extreme water shortage, beer manufacturing companies in Sangareddy continue to receive uninterrupted water supply.
“The Principal Secretary of the Excise Department issued orders to ensure water supply to beer units as per government directions,” he claimed.
Recalling that the previous BRS government had introduced a Rs 5 lakh insurance scheme for Goud families, Harish Rao said the Congress government promised Rs 10 lakh insurance but had not paid “even Rs10.” He also alleged that assurances made by the Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy to the Goud community have not been honoured.
“This government is working in favour of liquor manufacturers while completely neglecting farmers,” the former irrigation minister charged.
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