Southern States - Kerala-Thiruvananthapuram   

Minister puts onus on officials to tackle hooch

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM May 29. The Finance and Excise Minister, K. Sankaranarayanan, today put the onus on the district level and middle level officials of the Excise Department to tackle the flow of illicit liquor and corruption among lower level officials.

Addressing a meeting of Excise officials, the Minister emphasised that the State could not afford another liquor tragedy and officials would be solely responsible for their official lapses, though the Government would not take action on the basis of mere hearsay. He said the decision to transfer Assistant Excise Commissioners, the first ever in the State, had been taken to tackle rampant corruption in the department. Putting the responsibility of tackling corruption in the lower level hierarchy, the Minister asked the AECs to conduct periodic inspections on the functioning of the range officers in their respective jurisdiction and submit quarterly reports. The reports would be evaluated after three months at a high level meeting, he added.

Mr. Sankaranarayanan said the Government, in continuation of its policy of modernising the Government, had appointed 1,000 Excise guards, besides allocating Rs. 5 crores for this. He promised additional facilities like vehicles and telephones in areas which required them.

Efforts would be made to requisition the services of women police constables in the event of the delay in appointments of women Excise guards.

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