YS Jagan asks officials to ensure alternate employment for country-liquor makers

AMARAVATI: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has asked officials to focus on providing alternate livelihood opportunities to people involved in country liquor manufacturing. In a review meeting held at his camp office in Tadepalli on Monday, Jagan said that awareness should be created among the country liquor makers and officials should ensure that the alternative livelihood programmes were effectively implemented.

The officials informed the Chief Minister that liquor sales in Andhra Pradesh had abnormally came down in volume since 2018-19. As many as 384.36 lakh cases of liquor were sold in 2018-19, the sales came down to around 335.98 lakh cases in 2022-23, they said, adding that beer sales also came down to around 116.76 lakh cases from 277.16 lakh cases in the same period. Going through the percentage wise, the sales of beer and liquor in the first three months of the current fiscal year came down by 56.51 percent and 5.28 percent respectively when compared to the corresponding period of fiscal 2018-19.

Briefing the Chief Minister about the income earned from the registrations department, the officials said that the department had earned around Rs 2,291.97 crore in the last fiscal year till July 15,2023. Now, it had gone up to around Rs 2,793.70 crore in the corresponding period in the present fiscal, they said. "Apart from that, registration services have begun in villages where resurvey of lands have been completed and around 5,000 registrations have taken place so far by village secretaries, fetching revenue of Rs 8.03 crore," they added.

“Around Rs 7,653.15 crore of GST Revenue (apart from compensation) has been generated in the first three months of the present fiscal, posting an increase of 23.74 percent over the corresponding period in the last fiscal. In the first three months, we have achieved the target of up to 91 percent,” the officials told the Chief Minister.

Referring to the revenue earned by the Andhra Pradesh Mineral Development Corporation (APMDC), the officials said that the APMDC had been getting more revenue from Mangampet Barytes reserves and Suliyari Coal Block, which was expected to produce 5 million tons of coal this year.

“APMDC’s revenue has gone up to around Rs.1,806 crore in 2022-23 from Rs 502 crore in 2020-21. It is estimated to be around Rs. 4,000 crore in 2023-24,” the officials said.

After going through the revenue earnings detailed by the officials, YS Jagan pointed out that the revenue in these departments had gone up in the last four years due to the implementation of policies in full transparency, introduction of reforms and plugging of loopholes. Reviewing the transport department, Jagan said that officials should implement the best vehicle tax policies in the State by introducing reforms and implementing new policies after carefully studying the tax policies in vogue in other states.

“The new policies should be the best in the country to encourage vehicle buyers,” Jagan said. He added that revenue-generating departments should involve the district collectors more and more in the implementation of policies. Jagan also asked the finance and other departments to conduct review meetings with district collectors periodically to strengthen revenue generating mechanisms, plug loopholes and create more awareness of the policies.