Govt should consider public sentiment, says Sudheeran on liquor policy

Thiruvananthapuram: KPCC president V.M Sudheeran Friday came down heavily on the government over its liquor policy, saying that the public sentiment should be considered instead of the vested interests on the issue.

“If the public sentiment is not considered, the UDF government in the state will face the same fate of the UPA government,” Sudheeran said.

In an apparent response to Excise Minister K. Babu’s reported statement that the government could not possibly present the KPCC president’s difference of opinion before the High Court, Sudheeran yesterday had said what he had articulated was not his personal opinion, but the collective stand of the KPCC executive.

“Barring one person, everyone was of the view that the closed 418 bars should not be reopened and that the government should strive to liberate the State from liquor in stages,” he said.

The High Court Thursday asked the government to inspect again the bars that were closed down following a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report which stated that the bars had very poor infrastructure.

Citing the report, the government had refused to renew the licences of the 418 bars during the annual renewal of all the bars usually done ahead of the start of the current fiscal.