GUWAHATI, Feb 15 - Excise Minister Parimal Suklabaidya on Saturday directed officials of his department to maintain maximum vigil against liquor law violators and warned that any laxity on their part would be viewed sternly.
The minister was reviewing the functioning of his department with all superintendents of excise of the districts, deputy superintendents of excise and other officials through video conference.
Commissioner of Excise Rakesh Kumar initiated the discussion.
Drawing a quick reference to the policy and administrative initiatives of the department to plug the loopholes in preventing revenue leakages and to further strengthen the law enforcement machinery to curb and control the distillation and trade of illicitly made liquor and spurious liquor in the State, Kumar reviewed the action taken by the districts on the points discussed and decisions taken at the earlier meetings with the superintendents of excise and other field officials.
During the deliberations, it emerged that in several districts distillation and sale of illicitly distilled liquor as well as trade of duty-evaded and smuggled liquor are going on due to lack of proper monitoring and aggressive drives by the officials.
The minister said that a proper strategy should be devised and the enforcement machinery geared up so that the challenges created by illicitly distilled liquor and influx and trade of illicit liquor could be neutralised. He suggested that a timeline be fixed for minimising such illegal practices and bringing down the excise crime level to zero. He further suggested that March 31, 2020 be fixed as the target for achieving the goal.
�Performance of the districts would be reviewed periodically and dereliction of duty on the part of the officials would be viewed seriously and action would be taken against the erring officials,� the minister said.
Functioning of check points at the designated places in the districts sharing inter-state borders for checking of permits of consignments originating in Arunachal Pradesh, and naka duties in vulnerable places to intercept and seize illegal consignments originating in Arunachal Pradesh were discussed during the meeting among other issues.
