To curb the illegal flow of liquor in the Lok Sabha Elections-2024, the Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Electoral Officer, Mrs Aashika Jain, today, ordered enhanced surveillance of the movement of liquor in Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar District. Holding a meeting of Distilleries, Bottling plants and Marriage palace owners at the District Administrative Complex, the Deputy Commissioner made it clear that any laxity at any level would be taken seriously and strict action would be taken against the guilty.
Emphasising strict implementation of enforcement mechanisms on the movement of liquor from two distilleries, one Brewery and 13 bottling plants besides monitoring the sale of 299 liquor vends, she said that the district administration is committed to holding free, fair and transparent elections. Any case of allurement like a supply of liquor, drugs or bribery would have a zero-tolerance policy.
She categorically said that Excise Department officials would be responsible for curbing the illegal movement of liquor in the district by keeping regular vigil and laying Nakas with district police. Terming the currently installed Mass Flow Meters in all manufacturing Units capturing the real-time flow of spirit and CCTV camera vigil besides carrying QR-code enabled Passes (L-34) and Permits (L-32), she made it mandatory to keep displaying valid licenses and maps of locations for all the 299 vends.
She also asked the excise officials to check the daily sale and stock of the liquor vends and in case of an increase in sale over 30 per cent then immediately screen all the records. Besides, strict vigil would be regularly maintained on the vends lying on the interstate border, interior villages, and slum areas, DC directed the Excise officials.
The Deputy Commissioner instructed the marriage palace owners not to allow any political gathering before the prior approval of the concerned ARO. Similarly, no liquor would be served without a legitimate permit from the Excise Department during the marriages and other social gatherings being held in their resorts. Assistant Commissioner, Excise, SAS Nagar, Ashok Chalhotra, apprised the deputy commissioner that enforcement is being carried out by 04 teams in the district at a time, in addition to joint checking with police at stationary makes.
There will be one Excise Checking Team per constituency comprising 01 ETO, 01 Inspector and police staff. Additionally, 04 Excise Inspectors operate in their circles. A list of vends falling within 03 km of Punjab's border towards Chandigarh and Haryana has been shared with these authorities and they were requested to close these vends before 48 hours of polling in Punjab.
Other licensees like Bars, Hotels and marriage palaces have also been sensitized about their important role during the model code of conduct. Their stock and supply are also regulated through a system of permit and passes. These are also regularly checked by the department. Similarly, other sensitive places like roadside dhabas and petrol pumps etc. are being regularly checked by excise teams and police.
The officers present in the meeting included ADCs Viraj S Tidke and Damanjit Singh Mann, Assistant Commissioner Davy Goyal and ETOs and Excise Inspectors of the Excise Department.