BANGALORE: To discourage the menace of illicit liquor trade in the state, the government has decided to rehabilitate the bootleggers and put them into the mainstream by imparting training to take up different professions.Informing newsmen here on Wednesday, Excise Minister M P Renukacharya said that his department is holding talks with several state-owned boards and corporations functioning under the Social Welfare Department to work out the rehabilitation model. He said that he had instructed the department to conduct a survey to know the exact number of people who need to be rehabilitated and submit a report to the government within two months.The survey would be conducted in all the districts to know the number of people involved in the illicit liquor trade and the alternate livelihood they can be offered, the minister said. Renukacharya added that the Excise Department has taken strict measures to eradicate the menace of illicit brewing and its trade and already as many as 75 taluks and eight districts have been declared as illicit liquor brewing areas in the state.The districts which are declared as free from this trade are Bangalore Rural and Urban, Mandya, Koppal, Udupi, Chamarajanagar, Mysore and Ramanagara. Since six months, the enforcement authorities in the department have conducted as many as 31,105 raids and 5,468 cases have been booked in connection with violations of excise laws and arrested over 2,809 persons, he added.He said that the officials have busted 301 illicit brewing centres in 2010-11 and another 574 centres were put under scanner against the menace.Belgaum, Dharwad, Uttara Kannada, Kolar, Chickballapur and Hassan districts are among the most illicit trade inflicted districts in the state, Renukacharya said.The department officials have also booked about 590 cases against several winestores for selling the liquor more than its MRP during last six months and suspended licenses of nine shops and collected a penalty of over Rs. 3 crore.
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