Arrack ban to come into force in Karna from tomo

BANGALORE: Karnataka will be free from arrack from Sunday with the JD(S)-BJP government deciding to ban the brew statewide.

About 5,200 outlets vending arrack across the state will be shut, rendering around two lakh people jobless.

Deputy Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, who holds Finance and Excise portfolio, presenting the 2007-08 budget on March 16, had announced that arrack will be banned from July one, evoking sharp protests from arrack manufacturers and vendors.

The government took a bold decision to ban arrack in the aftermath of demand from several womens' groups and mutts.

The decision was expected to cost the state exchequer a whopping Rs 2000 crore annually, but the government is determined to make up the loss by plugging revenue leakage in Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) trade, official sources said.

With the ban on arrack, widely perceived as poor man's drink, Karnataka joined the other southern states Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala which have also implemented a similar measure.

Wary about the surreptious activities of the bootleggers who would become active following the arrack ban, the government has set up mobile squads to keep a strict vigil.

The Excise Department has set up a control room to get information on illicit brewing activities, sources said.

Vindicating the policy decision of the government, the High Court has upheld the ban, but has asked the government to formulate an alternative scheme to rehabilitate those who would be displaced, within two months.