Worried over frequent liquor deaths in the state, the Orissa government today said it was determined to reform the excise administration in order to prevent recurrence of such incidents.
Worried over frequent liquor deaths in the state, the Orissa government today said it was determined to reform the excise administration in order to prevent recurrence of such incidents. "We are giving serious thought to the matter. The government would bring reforms in excise administration," said excise minister, Prafulla Ghadai in response to the Opposition adjournment motions tabled in the House.
Dubbing the hooch tragedy as a social disease and a national phenomenon, Ghadai said at least 231 people had died in nine liquor tragedies in Orissa in over 20 years. He, however, expressed concern over two liquor deaths in 2009 including the recent one in Balangir and Bargarh districts where at least seven died and nine others fell ill.
At least two police personnel were placed under suspension for dereliction of duty+, Ghadai said assuring the House that stringent action would be taken against the people responsible for hooch tragedies. Relating the chronology of hooch tragedies in Orissa, he said highest number of 134 people died at Cuttack in 1991 while 29 persons died at Ganjam in 2006. The hooch tragedy at Nilgiri in Balasore district claimed 14 lives while 17 people died after consuming spurious liquor at Bhadrak in 1990. Four persons died at Purusottampur in Ganjam and two in Bhadrak in 1994 and 1996 respectively.
Twenty people fell victim to spurious liquor in Khurda district in 2001. Eleven people had died in two liquor tragedies in 2009. While four people died earlier this year in Khurda district, seven died in Balangir-Bargarh districts in June. Describing hooch tragedy as a national phenomenon, Ghadai pointed out that 12 persons had died in Gujarat yestreday while 34 people had become a victim of spurious liquor at Patna in Bihar in 2008.
At least 139 people died in similar tragedies in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, he said. In 2008, eight people died in Midnapore and 16 others fell victim to illicit liquor in Howrah in West Bengal. Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh and BJP legislature party leader KV Singhdeo expressed concern over government's inaction in checking such incidents.
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