Assam Tea Tribes Students’ Union Naharkatia demands for lali gur business ban

A Correspondent

Naharkatia: Assam Tea Tribes Students’ Union Naharkatia branch staged a two-hour dharna in front of the Circle Office on Saturday demanding total ban on lali gur (molasses) business and to take strong action against illicit liquor vendors.

Chief Minister Sarbanada Sonowal had banned the use of country liquor (sulai) and lali gur (Molasses) in the wake of the hooch tragedy where 185 people lost their lives and more than 60 children were orphaned. Sonowal had also directed all the DCs of every district to ban the sale and consumption of the substance. However, anyone who wants to use it as fodder for cattle needs to take prior permission from the district magistrate or the veterinary department, said excise minister Parimal Suklabaidya after he held a high-level review meeting at the Circuit House in Golaghat with the officers of the excise department of both Golaghat and Jorhat districts in the month of March this year.

Recently, Naharkatia administration sealed a godown of well-known businessman of Naharkatia, Prasanna Bharatia with around 2,000 tins of lali gur. This has been proved that lali gur business is still going on. Therefore, ATTSA Naharkatia branch staged an agitation to ban the substance and to take strong action against the illicit liquor vendors.

ATTSA central assistant general secretary Lalit Mahali and ATTSA Dibrugarh district organizing secretary Satyam Nayak were present in the demonstration. The protest was led by ATTSA Naharkatia branch president Basan Gowalla and secretary Amrit Kanda. Around 60 members of ATTSA Naharkatia Branch participated in the two-hour dharna. A memorandum was sent to the Dibrugarh DC through the Circle Officer of Naharkatia Revenue Circle, Bikram Chetri.

Also read: Assam Tea Tribes Students’ Association(ATTSA) burns effigies of Ministers at Doomdooma, Assam