A team from Rajasthan excise department is visiting Bihar to study its prohibition model. The team comprising five officers will study how prohibition was implemented and is being enforced by the government. This is being considered as the first move towards implementing prohibition in Rajasthan.
Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot has been a severe critic of the Gujarat model of prohibition and has on several occasions challenged the Gujarat chief minister and questioned the efficacy of the prohibition. He has also openly claimed that liquor is illegally and freely available everywhere in Gujarat. He and Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani had had traded charges on the issue.
The five member team led by Additional excise commissioner (policy) C R Devasi includes, Rajendra Pareek excise officer Udaipur, Sanjay Singh Dullar district excise officer Barmer, Gajendra Singh Rajpurohit assistant excise officer Jodhpur and Ishwar Singh Chauhan excise inspector Abu Road.
Even as the team visit is being considered as the first step towards implementing prohibition in Rajasthan, it yet remains to be seen how the government will make up for the huge revenue losses. The state earns as much as 11000 crore annual revenue from liquor. Sources within the government say that prohibition would be done in a phased manner.
Gehlot has always been a critic of Vasundhara Raje on the issue of liquor. He had in his second term as chief minister ordered liquor shops be closed at eight pm instead of 11 pm.
The two had sparred over the issue of liquor after the death of Gursharan Chhabra, a former MLA who had died while on hunger strike demanding prohibition in the state. His daughter in law Pooja Chhabra continues to champion his cause. As many as four villages in Rajasthan have voted for prohibition and got it. Gehlot had recently met Chhabra and appreciated her efforts. The meet too had sparked speculations about Gehlot’s intent to implement prohibition in Rajasthan.
