Expert committees to study possibility of alcohol ban in Chhattisgarh

The Chhattisgarh government has set up three committees comprising experts, social workers and MLAs to study the prospect of banning liquor in the state, a senior official said Saturday. While two committees will be headed by the secretary of Chhattisgarh's Commercial Taxes (Excise) department, the third will be chaired by senior Congress MLA Satyanarayan Sharma, the official informed.

The committee which will have social workers and experts will take up case studies of states that have banned alcohol and will study the change in their economic and social scenarios, he said. This committee under the secretary of Commercial Taxes (Excise), will have nine members.

They are experts PK Shukla, activist Babruvahan of Jashpur, Dr J P Mishra, social worker and Padma Shri awardee Shamshad Begum, Manish Sharma, Ajay Kumar and Amitesh Kumar Singh, who has been associated with de-addiction campaign, Superintendent of Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar Memorial Hospital Raipur Dr Vivek Chaudhary and retired commercial taxes officer from Jagdalpur Sonaram Sori. It will have a joint director of state commercial taxes (excise), Chandrakant Uike, as its member secretary.

Another committee will have representatives of different social communities, including the Kurmi Samaj, Sahu Samaj, Brahman Samaj, Yadav Samaj, Marar Samaj, Sarva Adivasi Samaj, Satnami Samaj, Sikhs, Muslims and Christians, the official said. The panel under Congress MLA Sharma will have two legislators from BJP, one each from BSP and Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J) and eight from the Congress, he added.

(With inputs from agencies.)