Three liquor bottles is the maximum limit one can possess: AP govt. issues orders

Amaravathi: To discourage liquor consumption in the state, the government of Andhra Pradesh has issued an order on the amount of liquor an individual can possess. It has issued G.O.Ms .No.411 on Tuesday which specified a maximum quantity of intoxicants one can possess at a time without a permit or licence. The order comes into effect from Wednesday.

As per the orders of the state government, one can possess three bottles of liquor (whether it is Indian made foreign liquor or foreign liquor) with him/her at a time. It must be noted here that bottle can be of any size. Only Three bulk litres of denatured/ methylated spirit is allowed with a person. However, 6 bottles of beer (650 ml) can be possessed by an individual, whereas a person is only permitted to have 2 bulk litres of toddy.

It seems that the YSRC government is slowly heading towards a partial liquor ban in the state. YS Jagan, when he was opposition leader, had announced that he would ban liquor in the state as it is destroying the rural economy. He said that liquor was one of the root cause of road accidents. He promised that there will be a partial ban on alcohol in the state.

Jagan started initiating actions towards the prohibition of alcohol after he was sworn in as Chief Minister. He instructed the prohibition and excise officials to remove belt shops as they play a vital role in the liquor business.

With the wiping of belt shops, the sales dropped. The liquor syndicate have understood that the business is no longer profitable in Andhra Pradesh. Hence, all the bigwigs in the alcohol trade are trying to invest in Telangana.

The government plans to allow very few liquor shops in every district. Jagan has asked his officials to decrease the sales of liquor by 20 per cent each year. The recent order on possession of liquor also highlights the government’s attitude towards the ban of the toxicants.