UP CM lauds excise department for curbing sale of spurious liquor

Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath hailed the excise department's efforts to curb the supply and black-marketing of spurious liquor and increasing revenue, a government spokesperson said

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday hailed the excise department's efforts to curb the supply and black-marketing of spurious liquor and increasing revenue, a government spokesperson said.

Adityanath was speaking at an event where he congratulated 332 new constables on their recruitment to the excise department.

He said, "Tireless efforts were made after 2017 to curb the supply of spurious liquor. Resultantly, the state managed to gather a revenue of about Rs 42,000 crore by the end of this year, in contrast to just Rs 12,000 crore in 2017. I urge all the newly-recruited constables to work as transparently and dedicatedly as the government did during their recruitment."

The chief minister also expressed happiness on the recruitment of 109 women constables and said, "It is extremely heartening to see about 30% recruitment of women during the holy 'Sharadiya Navratri'. The government is committed to providing employment opportunities to the youth with utmost transparency, according to their eligibility."

During the event, Adityanath reiterated his government's "zero-tolerance policy" on crime, adding that those who endangered people's lives by distributing spurious liquor were now behind bars.

Lauding the excise department's work, he said, "The department, once infamous, set up about 33 new distilleries in 5.5 years that are more than half of what were present in the state since 70 years for ensuring poison-free liquor as well as generating employment opportunities and more revenue. This reflects the positive-intent of the government and the hard work of the department."

"Today, UP tops in ethanol and alcohol production and has also made record payment of more than Rs 1.80 lakh crore to sugarcane farmers that is even more than the annual budget of many states," he pointed out.

Speaking on the job situation in Uttar Pradesh, the chief minister said over 5 lakh youths were given government jobs in the last five-and-a-half years despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

About 1.61 crore were given job opportunities through various MSME units and the industrial sector at large while about 60 lakh craftsmen and artisans were connected with banks to ensure self-employment, he added.

Adityanath reiterated that his government would provide employment to at least one person in every family and ensure self-reliance of youths. The government also aims to ensure that the youth become technologically advanced through the provision of two crore tablets/smartphones, he added.

Uttar Pradesh also managed to bring down its unemployment rate significantly from 18-19 per cent in 2016 to about 2.6 per cent at present, according to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), the chief minister said.