Khargone (Madhya Pradesh) [India], January 24 (ANI): Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav-led state government held a cabinet meeting in Maheshwar, Khargone district on Friday and approved a significant decision of liquor ban in 17 religious cities in the state.
CM Yadav stressed that the liquor shops running in those cities will be shut down permanently and it would not be shifted elsewhere.
“To ensure that the state move towards liquor ban gradually, we have decided that in the first phase liquor shops would be shut down in Nagar Palika, Nagar Parishad and Nagar Panchayat of 17 cities in the states. These shops will not be shifted anywhere else. It has been decided to shut down these shops permanently,” CM Yadav said.
Expressing pleasure over the decision, the Deputy Chief Minister, state ministers, and residents welcomed it and thanked Chief Minister Mohan Yadav for making the decision.
Deputy Chief Minister Jagdish Devda said that it was a good decision taken by CM Yadav, adding that they were also moving toward complete liquor prohibition in the state.
“We are moving towards complete prohibition. Liquor shops in these cities would be completely shut down…the government is heading towards liquor ban and this is a good decision by the Chief Minister,” Devda told ANI.
State Minister Krishna Gaur said, “This is a commendable decision. Everyone wished that liquor should be banned in religious cities, so the decision taken today is being praised all over Madhya Pradesh. I thank CM Yadav for this. Additionally, today, the entire cabinet expressed the desire to ban liquor across the state in which the Chief Minister has agreed to ban liquor in the entire state in the coming time.”
Another minister Pratima Bagri also praised the decision and said that it would convey the message of women empowerment and hence women would be very excited by this decision.
“I appreciate the decisions and we have given a message of women empowerment through the decision. Women will be very excited by this decision as if anyone consumes liquor in their family it affects the whole family so it is a big achievement for the women. A liquor ban at religious places is also a very big message. I thank the Chief Minister for this. The Chief Minister’s goal is a complete prohibition (of liquor),” Bagri said.
Meanwhile, a resident of Ujjain district said that it is a commendable move and if it is implemented well then it will reduce crime in the city as well. 
“This decision of the Chief Minister is commendable as Ujjain is a religious place. If it is implemented here then it will leave a message across the nation that the state took a good step. Also, if this is implemented well then it will also reduce crime and nuisance the city. I extend my support to the decision,” Ujjain resident told ANI.
Similarly, another Ujjain resident said that the decision would take the youth towards righteous path and help them to do something good in their life ahead. 
“The youth which were heading towards the wrong path, it will take youth towards the righteous path. Youth waste their valuable time in drinking and with this decision (liquor ban) they would get time to think for the future. Nowadays, drinking has become a status symbol for the youth; this decision will help those people to do something good,” the another resident said.
Besides, an administrator at Maa Pitambara Peeth of Datia, Mahesh Dubey said that it’s a good symbol and thanked CM Mohan Yadav for the decision. 
“Datia was also declared a religious and holy place but no concrete step was taken to establish that fact. But, when the government has banned Liquor here, it’s a good symbol. I extend my wish that the government will implement this well and the people will also extend their support to this move. I thank the CM for this,” Dubey told ANI.
Along with this, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president VD Sharma also welcomed the decision of banning liquor and termed that it was a historic decision as the state government would not shift liquor shops running in those cities anywhere else but would shut down permanently.
“A historic decision has been taken by our government under the leadership of CM Yadav to completely ban liquor in 17 religious cities in the state. I welcome the decision. Another reason for being a historic decision is that the liquor shops in those cities will not be shifted elsewhere, the government’s decision is to close permanently,” VD Sharma said.
Meanwhile, Congress leaders demanded that if the state government wanted to maintain the purity of the religious cities then all kinds of intoxicants should be banned, alleging that the state is affected by dry intoxicants.
“The decision to ban liquor is fine, but if the cleanliness and purity of religious cities is to be maintained, then all kinds of intoxicants should be banned. Madhya Pradesh is affected by dry intoxication and dry intoxicants are arriving via Gujarat and Odisha in the state. Additionally, factories were seized in the state where intoxicants worth around Rs 3000 crores were manufactured. So, why is it not banned; it should be stopped too,” Bhupendra Gupta told ANI.
Secondly, the state government imposed the ban on a town but it is not imposed in the district. Then what is the roadmap of the state government to stop the illegal trafficking of liquor within the district. The state government should talk about it, he added.
Another Congress leader Sangeeta Sharma asked why it was not implemented in the entire state and emphasised that the state government should also pay attention towards drugs and dry intoxicants consumption in the state.
“Why should it be implemented in 17 religious cities, it should be implemented in the entire state. As far as making Madhya Pradesh drug-free is concerned, then first the attention should be paid on drug cases, the dry intoxication that youth are consuming today, which is ruining the future of the youth. The crimes are increasing in Madhya Pradesh because there is no such thing about intoxicant ban in the state. Intoxicants are being sold here on a large scale. Alcohol is being sold illegally and youth started to take drugs. The cabinet has not taken any such decision regarding this, so that the future of the Madhya Pradesh’s youth is secured,” Sharma said.
The 17 religious cities where liquor has been banned include one municipal corporation, six Nagar Palika, six Nagar Parishad and six gram panchayats in the state.
Liquor shops will be completely shut down within the limits of Ujjain Municipal Corporation. Similarly, liquor banned Nagar Palikas include Datia, Panna, Mandla, Multai, Mandsaur and Maihar.
Additionally, the Nagar Parishad where liquor shops will be shut down permanently includes Omkareshwar, Maheshwar, Mandleshwar, Orchha, Chitrakoot and Amarkantak.
Furthermore, the Gram Panchayats where liquor will be banned include Salkanpur, Barman Kala, Linga, Barman Khurd, Kundalpur and Bandakpur. (ANI)
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