Union Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya today criticised Telangana's excise policy, saying it has made liquor freely available and caused adverse social and economic effects.
In a letter addressed to Chief Minister Chandrasekhar Rao, he expressed concern over ill-effects of excessive consumption of alcohol and demanded concrete steps to check sale of liquor in the newly formed State.
"Liquor is freely available at bars and malls for extended hours. As a result, we see excessive consumption of liquor by people, rise in road accidents, loss of working hours, addiction among youth and students. Women and girls also face torture (at the hands of family members who come home drunk)," he said.
In the letter, Dattatreya referred to a few fatal road accidents in the city involving drunken drivers.
The excise policy focuses on increasing state income by boosting liquor sale, but the poor, weaker sections, lower middle class, students and women are bearing the brunt of this approach, the Lok Sabha MP from Secunderabad said.
"I expect a concrete action at the earliest from the Chief Minister in wiping out the liquor menace which is having ill effects on the innocent people of Telangana," he said.
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