The Yogi Adityanath government has given a go ahead to the excise department to reorganise itself to check the sale of illicit liquor and prevent cross-border smuggling of foreign liquor in Uttar Pradesh.
This will be a major boost to prevent hooch tragedies in the state that has witnessed 3 major tragedies since 2015.
As part of the exercise, the excise department has set up 339 tehsil-level crime prevention circles/sectors in all 75 districts of the state. Each sector will be headed by an excise inspector who will have at least two head constables and five constables under him. Reorganisation of the department was first proposed in 2010 when the need for better enforcement of measures in 915 cities/towns and 821 development blocks in the state was felt.
However, the plan could not be implemented due to lack of manpower and the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC) was asked to fill vacant posts in excise department. After the department got equipped with adequate manpower, it again sought permission from the state government. Additional chief secretary (excise) Deepak Trivedi, through a missive dated May 1, 2017, informed excise commissioner Dheeraj Sahu about the government’s nod to the proposal.
