Press Releases Archive

The Lok Satta Party today welcomed Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi’s announcement that his Government was considering re-imposition of Prohibition.

Talking to the media, party General Secretary Katari Srinivasa Rao recalled that unlike in Andhra Pradesh where liquor shops are auctioned for maximizing revenue, in Tamil Nadu the Government itself runs liquor shops.

While the Tamil Nadu Government is having second thoughts on allowing free flow of liquor, the Andhra Pradesh Government is unabashedly planning to make more and more liquor brands available to addicts in the State. It had even dispensed with the practice of appointing a committee to educate people on the liquor menace.

Mr. Srinivasa Rao hastened to add that the Lok Satta Party harped on liquor consumption not as a moral issue. It was concerned only about promoting liquor consumption in a society in which large sections of people went without quality education, health care, and livelihood opportunities.

The Lok Satta leader pointed out that Gujarat was progressing on all fronts, although it stuck to Prohibition. He wanted the Andhra Pradesh Government to review its Excise policy. Meanwhile, he appealed to people to form committees at the local level and fight for closure of unauthorized belt shops and sitting rooms.

The Lok Satta Party today demanded that the Government cancel all mining leases and allocate them afresh on international competitive bidding to save the polity from mining mafia and earn revenue for the cash-strapped Government.

Fresh mining lease agreements should earn the Government not only license fees but also a fair share of revenue. The Government should also arm itself with powers to tax windfall profits.

Talking to the media at the party headquarters, Lok Satta Party General Secretary Katari Srinivasa Rao made the demand in the context of the controversies surrounding exploitation of iron ore in Obulapuram of Anantapur district and in Bayyaram of Khammam district.

The Lok Satta leader said that successive State Governments had been leasing precious mines to parties in which they are interested without following any transparent policy. “A Government which pleads constraint of resources for funding Sarva Siksha Abhiyan and reimbursing student fees has no business to forgo revenue by handing over mines on a platter to select people. On the contrary, it is pauperizing the already poor people by promoting liquor consumption to maximize its revenue.”

The State Government can hit a jack-pot if it auctions the right to mine all minerals including iron ore, bauxite, barites and granite.

Mr. Srinivasa Rao said that those who minted astronomical sums of money by exploiting Government-leased mines have started dictating politics and posing a threat to democracy in States like Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Jarkhand.

He disclosed that Lok Satta Party President Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan would soon be writing to the Prime Minister seeking a comprehensive review of the mining policy.