Bill to transfer control of potable alcohol to states passed

A bill seeking to transfer from the central government to states the control over industries engaged in the production of potable alcohol was passed by Parliament today.
The Industries (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2015, that seeks to amend a schedule to exclude production of alcohol for potable purposes from the ambit of the Act was passed by Rajya Sabha with voice vote.
Lok Sabha passed the Bill earlier in December last.
Replying to a discussion on the Bill, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the amendment would bring potable alcohol under the jurisdiction of states and help address the issue of litigations which have been filed.

She said this Bill defines with clarity what is within the powers of the Centre and what is within the powers of states.
"This is something which the Supreme Court had broadly indicated in its judgement in 1997. Since then at different times, different action had been taken up. However, since there were a lot of cases pending, the bill had not come up," she said.

Sitharaman said, "It seeks to amend entry 26 in the first schedule in the Act from what it read as 'fermentation industries' to now read as 'fermentation industries (other than potable alcohol)'. It is this amendment which has now become necessary," she said adding that it comes in confirmity with the Supreme Court judgement.

The Minister also cited various provisions of the Bill and various other initiatives, saying the central government believes in federalism and sharing of power with states.
Earlier, Congress member Anand Bhaskar Rapolu, BJP's
Rangasayee Ramakrishnan and BJD's Bhupinder Singh participated in the discussion and supported the Bill.
Singh said this amendment is very important and was "much-needed".
He said a state government should have final say in alcohol production.
"I would urge upon the Central government to bring about further transparency as far as the Centre-State jurisdictions are concerned in other matters as well. Our party is a strong votary of a solid strong federal framework and this is precisely the underlying spirit of Constitution. The present government also talks eloquently about cooperative federalism.

"So it must not flatter on this count. Decisions should not only be taken on political exigencies. I am also a bit surprised that why it took 20 years to implement the judgment of Supreme Court. It is a poor reflection of the efficacy of our executive," he said.
According to the Bill, the central government would continue to be responsible for formulating policy and regulating foreign collaboration (FDI and foreign technology collaboration agreements) for all products of fermentation industries, including industrial and potable alcohol.