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No ban on arrack, avers Nayanar

Kerala Chief Minister E K Nayanar and Excise Minister T Sivadasa Menon asserted in Thiruvananthapuram that the state government did not even think of lifting the ban on the sale of arrack.

"It has never been on the government's agenda," they said while reacting to the controversy arising out of the ruling Left Democratic Front convener V S Achuthanandan's statement on the issue.

Nayanar said that Achuthanandan and CPI-M state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan had already clarified that their statements had been misquoted in the media.

The chief minister added that the previous Congress regime, headed by A K Antony, had imposed the ban without considering the future of workers in the arrack sector, who were thus rendered jobless.

The Nayanar goverment made an ex gratia payment of Rs 30,000 to each of the nearly 30,000 displaced workers in this sector. Besides, the affected workers had also been provided with financial benefits from the Abkari Workers Welfare Fund, he said.

On an unrelated issue, Nayanar said that disputes relating to the erection of a statue for the late Marxist leader E M S Namboodiripad in the Kerala capital would be settled amicably.

Talking to the media after a cabinet meeting, he said the issue had been discussed with the action council leaders and the office bearers of the Palayam mosque. They were satisfied with the outcome of the discussions, the chief minister added.

However, Nayanar did not state whether the statue would be set up at the disputed site at Palayam, or shifted elsewhere.

UNI

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