UDF alleges corruption in Kerala govt's nod for FMFL sale

: The opposition Congress Monday raised fresh corruption allegations over the LDF government's decision to allow sale of Foreign-Made Foreign Liquor (FMFL) in the state, even as the latter rubbished the charges as "baseless".

This comes over two months after the UDF opposition front had levelled corruption of crores of Rupees in allocation of new breweries and distillery, following which the government cancelled the nod for it.

Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala and senior Congress leader Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan told reporters here that sanction for the sale of FMFL was not part of the LDF government's liquor policy and alleged that it did not follow mandatory procedures.

Radhakrishnan alleged that the Left government's move was to help the foreign liquor mafia and to "drown the state in alcohol".

The LDF government had earlier given license to sell the FMFL through outlets of the state-run Kerala State Beverages Corporation (Bevco), the leaders said.

"But the excise department later gave the nod to sellthe same through bars, beer and wine parlours, airport lounges and clubs, irrespective of their classification and there was huge corruption behind the move," Chennithala alleged.

However, state Excise Minister T P Ramakrishnan dismissed the charges and said that the opposition was trying to create 'confusion' among the public by hiding facts.

Their attempt to tarnish the government would not yield the desired results, he said.

"The sale of FMFL is not a new thing in Kerala. The permission had been granted for the same since 2007," he said.

The 2018-19 budget had announced the sale of the FMFL through the Beverages Corporation and a special tax structure for it, he said.

Based on the tender floated by the Corporation, 17 supplier companies were given permission and the government had not hidden the names of any of them, the minister said.

He rejected the opposition charge that the government had concealed the names of two companies while giving a reply in the assembly in this regard.

"The products of various foreign liquor brands, which had evinced interest in selling their products in the state, were already available in the black market, causing a huge loss to the state exchequer.

The government has taken the policy decision of allowing the sale of FMFL through the beverages outlets to avoid this," the minister added.