MVA government may lift liquor ban in Chandrapur, sets up panel

MUMBAI: The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government may reverse the previous Devendra Fadnavis government’s 2015 liquor ban in Chandrapur district. The state has set up a 13-member high level committee to study the social and economic impact of the liquor ban in the district and to take into consideration views of social organisations and people’s representatives on the issue. Social activists from Chandrapur district, though, called the move “partisan”, saying liquor is banned in Wardha and Gadchiroli too.
It is said relief and rehabilitation minister Vijay Wadettiwar, also guardian minister of Chandrapur, is not in favour of the ban. An official said the issue was discussed at a meeting held in September 2020, under the chairmanship of excise minister Dilip Walse-Patil and attended by home minister Anil Deshmukh and Wadettiwar. It was decided a committee would be set up and submit a report to the state after a comprehensive study.