‘Panchayats can prohibit sale of liquor’
Sushil Goyal
Tribune News ServiceSangrur, June 12
Though panchayats have the power to introduce prohibition on the sale of liquor
in their respective villages in the state, yet it seems that a majority of them
are ignorant about the provision, “Power to introduce prohibition,” mentioned
in the Punjab Panchayati Raj Act.Social activist Kamal Anand, who has been
working on social issues, including implementation of the Right to Information
Act for the past some years, said yesterday, “As per Section 40 of the Punjab
Panchayati Raj Act, a gram panchayat by a resolution, supported by at least
two-thirds of panchs passed at any time on or after April 1 and on or before
September 30, could direct that liquor may not be sold at any licensed shop
within the Gram Sabha area”.Anand further said as per the Act, such a
resolution, passed by the panchayat, would be binding upon the Excise and
Taxation Commissioner, Punjab.However, such a resolution would not be binding
upon the Commissioner only if he/she
was of the opinion, based on concrete evidence, that illicit distillation or
smuggling of alcohol had been made in that particular area during the past two
years, he added.Anand further said it was a matter of happiness that even
without having knowledge about the Section 40, Punjab Panchayati Raj Act, the
panchayat of Jalan village, near Ghabdan village of the district, had created
an example by way of passing a resolution on June 1 that it would neither allow
the opening of a liquor shop in its village nor allow the sale of
liquor.Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner, Sangrur, TS Virk confirmed
that under the Panchayati Raj Act the panchayats had the power to introduce
prohibition in villages. However, he said, the Excise and Taxation Commissioner
would take the final decision.
Panchayats put up fight against alcoholism
Umesh Dewan
Tribune News ServicePatiala, February 3
In order to completely “discourage” alcohol consumption in their villages, the
Panchayats of 44 villages of eight districts of Punjab have passed a resolution
under Section 40 of the Punjab Panchayati Raj Act, urging the Excise and
Taxation authorities not to allow liquor shops be opened in their villages from
the next fiscal.Representatives of 22 village Panchayats of Sangrur district
also met State Excise and Taxation Officer A Venu Prasad in Patiala today in
this regard. They said they would explore the possibility of taking legal
recourse, in case the Excise Department allots liquor vends in their villages
next fiscal. The villages that have taken this initiative are from Sangrur
(22), Mohali (3), Bathinda (2), Ferozepur (1), Hoshiarpur (6), Barnala (3),
Ludhiana (1), Patiala (3) and Faridkot (3).Speaking to The Tribune, Sarpanch of
village Chudal (Sangrur) Sukhdev Singh said they did not want the youth to
spoil their life by getting addicted to
alcohol.“After some NGOs educated us about the powers we have under the Punjab
Panchayati Raj Act, we decided to put forward the resolution that disallows the
opening of liquor shops in villages.”When contacted, Venu Prasad said the
process of giving personal hearing to the village Panchayats was on, and the
decision would be taken thereafter. However, sources in the Excise Department
told The Tribune that if the department enforced the resolution, it would mean
decrease in the number of liquor vends, which, in turn, would lead to a dip in
revenue.“There is a possibility that after the closure of liquor vends, the
youth might get hooked to drugs like opium,” a senior official said.
