Liquor to ooze from chikoo, jambhul

After kicking off a controversy over giving permission to produce liquor from food grains, the state government has now announced that it plans to permit production of liquor from fruits such as cashewnut, jambhul (blueberry) and chikoo (sapodilla).

“We have received a proposal seeking permission to make liquor from cashewnut, jambhul and chikoo. The government is thinking over it,” excise minister Ganesh Naik announced in the legislative council on Monday.

Naik was replying to a question by NCP’s Arun Gujrathi on the permission to produce liquor from foodgrains. The minister said no new permits had been given to make liquor from food grains since August 20, 2009. 

The government policy to make liquor from food grains attracted criticism from the opposition and social activists like Anna Hazare and Dr Abhay Bang. The opposition argued that as there was shortage of food grains in the state it was not logical to produce liquor from them. Dr Bang appealed to the government not to convert Maharashtra into “Madya Rashtra” (liquor state).

The BJP’s Vinod Tawde and Shiv Sena’s Deepak Sawant objected to Naik’s statement. They asked if no permits were being issued, why social activist Anna Hazare — who was on a hunger strike last week demanding not to issue new permits — was not informed about it. To this, Naik said it was not necessary to inform him in advance.

The government had stated that only those food grains which were not suitable for human consumption would be used for producing liquor. However, later it succumbed to opposition pressure and announced that there would be no new factory to make liquor from food grains.