Gehlot criticises downgrading of 12 municipalities to gram panchayats
Former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has criticised the Bhajan Lal Sharma-led BJP government for putting the state on a retrograde path of development.
Hundreds of residents, including several women, of at least ten villages under Chakradharpur gram panchayat in Dharmasala block of the district are on dharna near the proposed wine shop in the locality. They are up in arms against the approval of the district adminstration opening a wine shop in their locality. They have been staging anti -liquor agitation in a silent manner and their agitation entered tenth day today.
Many social activists, people from anti liquor organisations and even political leaders from the block and beyond are coming to the dharana site and extending their support to the agitators. “The newly opened liquor shop• will operate within a close distance from the village school, temple. It is located even a stone trow away from the National Highway 200.
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It will cause severe inconveniences for the public and students . Hence we are demanding that no liquor shop should be opened in our area,” said Malati Sethy, an agitator.• “Just to increase revenue, the district authorities have granted permission for setting up the liquor shop in our village dominated by labour class people.We warned the government and even the excise department to either close down the wine shop or face strong protests.
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We will intensify our agitation and take to the streets, if our demand is not fullfilled soon, she said. Besisides, local Sarpanch Narayan Sethy and a host of Panchayati Raj Institution (PRI) members including the ruling party Zilla Parishad members of the neighbouring panchayats have been supporting the anti liquor agitation.
Local Sarpanch Narayan Sethy said, “ Earlier we had met the Jajpur District Collector Ranjan Kumar Das at his office and handed over a memorandum not to open a liquor shop at our village. Despite our requests, he has given licence for the liquor shop”. When all our efforts failed, we are forced to sit before the proposed liquor shop. The said liquor shop was scheduled to open in the last week of January.
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