Coalition against Drugs and Alcohol (CADA) on Thursday declared that it will not meet the government or any ministers and hold discussions on the legalisation of liquor until a white paper on the matter is produced.
CADA secretary general Geetchandra Mangang told the media at its office located at Pureiromba Khongnang Makhong, Palace Compound that CADA has no knowledge about its representatives and Nupi Samaj is going to hold discussions with the government on Friday.
He mentioned that on an occasion, Minister L Susindro Meitei had said that he was going to meet the representatives of CADA and Nupi Samaj. CADA representatives have no knowledge of such a meeting, said Geetchandra.
He further said that CADA also contacted Nupi Samaj, and they also have no knowledge about any meeting with the minister on Friday. It is pointless to meet with the government or any minister regarding the matter until a white paper on the legalisation of liquor is produced, he added.
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Geetchandra recalled that Chief Minister N Biren Singh had expressed the state government’s firm stand on the cabinet decision, while the CSOs, local club organisations were welcomed to talk on the matter.
Minister Susindro had also expressed earlier that CADA and Nupi Samaj have failed to discuss the matter with the government, and it will initiate necessary steps. The statements of chief minister and Minister Susindro are an insult to CADA and the movement that has been going on endlessly for decades, he added.
While CADA, Nupi Samaj and other bodies are holding agitations against the state cabinet decision on lifting of prohibition on alcohol, some people at Pheyeng started organising a ‘mela’ where Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) and distilled Indigenous Country (DIC) Liquor were openly sold, he said.
Besides, some people have already started selling illegal liquors boldly even before the cabinet decision has been implemented, he mentioned. Geetchandra questioned how the state government would regulate the selling of liquor after the decision of the state cabinet is printed on the gazette notification, when it cannot even control the present scenario.
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