Former president of the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee and Cabinet Minister Rita Bahuguna Joshi asserted that the state government was making efforts to meet the demands and address the plight of the women. Joshi further that they are also trying to figure whether to ban on liquor or limit the access.
While speaking to the media, Rita said that the government understands why the women in the state have been demanding alcohol ban and that they are trying to come to a best possible solution. “The state is coming up with a new excise policy that will address the plight of women in the best possible way. Adding that the policy would be approved soon. The details would be placed before the state cabinet where the situation would be examined. We hope to role out the policy in a week or ten days,” Times of India quoted Rita Bahuguna as saying.
She also said that the government will take into account the plight of the women before taking the final call.
However, there is no official confirmation on whether Uttar Pradesh will follow the footsteps of Bihar and impose a complete ban on liquor. She also affirmed that they were among the first people to implement Supreme Court order to ban liquor shops and bars that were within the 500 metres of the national and state highways.
This comes a days after few women were held after they allegedly set some wine shops on fire in Baraula district of Uttar Pradesh. The women who are apparently the victims of alcoholism staged a protest demanding a ban on alcohol in the state. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had also said that a complete ban would be imposed on liquor in the state of MP soon.
