Youth, students should be safeguarded from drugs menace: Jagan
Jagan convened a review meeting of revenue generating departments including Excise, Mines and Panchayat Raj at the Camp Office
- Andhra Pradesh
NewsTAP Bureau- Updated On:2 Sep 2022 5:49 AM GMT
AMARAVATHI: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy convened a review meeting of revenue generating departments including Excise, Mines and Panchayat Raj at the Camp Office here on Thursday.
The Chief Minister directed the officials to ensure that ganja and other such substances are out of bounds for students and youth. SEB numbers should be displayed at all colleges and universities and there should be no reports of drug abuse, he said, adding that the district collectors should coordinate about the same.
Liquor consumption has come down due to steep hike in prices and closure of belt shops, YS Jagan said, adding that those who indulged in brewing of illicit liquor and cultivation of ganja should be provided an alternative source of employment and encouraged to take up self-employment.
The officials informed the Chief Minister that consumption of alcohol had come down from 384.31 lakh cases in 2018-19 to 278.5 lakh cases in 2021-22. The sale of beer for the same period has plummeted from 277.10 lakh cases to 82.6 lakh cases. The revenue from liquor sales has gone up from Rs 20,128 crores to Rs 25,023 crores for the same period due to steep hike in prices. A total of 20,127 cases were registered, 16,027 were arrested and 1,407 vehicles were seized with regard to illicit liquor offences.
All government offices including Village Secretariat, Collector Offices, Police Stations, SP Offices and PDS shops should contain the boards displaying the toll-free number 14400, ordered the Chief Minister. Sub-registrar offices and passport offices should also be revamped, he added.
In a direction to the district collectors, YS Jagan asked them to consider districts as one unit and ensure that mining operations were carried out with necessary permissions. Any disputes should amicably be settled to ensure there is no loss of revenue, he said. Transparency should be maintained in the sale of red sanders, said Jagan when the officials revealed that plans were afoot for sale of 2,640 metric tonnes between October 2022 and March 2023.
Deputy Chief Minister K Narayanaswamy, Ministers Dharmana Prasada Rao, Peddireddy Ramchandra Reddy, P Viswaroop, Chief Secretary Sameer Sharma, DGP KV Ravindernath Reddy and senior officials of the respective departments attended the review meeting.
