Liquor not intoxicant, says Punjab minister

Punjab health minister Surjit Kumar Jyani has declared that liquor is not an intoxicant. The minister made the statement while inaugurating a de-addiction and rehabilitation centre at Theri village, near Giddarbaha in CM Parkash Singh Badal’s native district Muktsar.

The minister tried to rationalise his statement by saying, “The liquor factories have complete approval of governments and licences are given to set them up.

The liquor vends are auctioned or allotted through draws and, under such circumstances, we cannot call liquor an intoxicant.”

The state Cabinet minister’s remark comes at a time when scores of village panchayats in the state have passed resolutions disallowing liquor vends in their villages, terming liquor as the biggest nuisance.

Some villages have been successful in closing down vends already operating there. Punjab expects to earn Rs 5,000 crore in excise duty on liquor in the current financial year.

The minister also said the state was being defamed regarding the drug menace. At the same time he advocated opening of more de-addiction centres, saying they were needed to get people out of the clutches of narcotics.

Reacting to his statement, former CLP leader Sunil Jakhar called it “unfortunate” and said Mr Jyani should have thought things out before making such claims.