NEW DELHI: Madhya Pradesh chief minister Mohan Yadav announced on Friday that the state government has decided to shut down liquor shops in 17 holy towns across the state.
The decision was made during a cabinet meeting held earlier in the day in Khargone, Yadav said. The move is part of the efforts to curb alcohol consumption in religious and culturally significant areas.
“To ensure that the states move towards liquor ban gradually, we have decided that in the first phase liquor shops would be shut down in Nagar Palika, Nagar Parishad, Nagar Panchayat of 17 cities in the states. These shops will not be shifted anywhere else. It has been decided to shut down these shops permanently,” the chief minister told reporters.
CM Yadav said, “We should all pay attention to the fact that these Nagar Parishads are all such centres of our religious faith so on the basis of the liquor policy, we have decided to close the shops in all these places.”
The 17 towns include one municipal corporation, six nagar palikas (municipalities), six nagar parishads (urban councils), and six village panchayats. The municipal corporation area affected is Ujjain. Meanwhile, the municipalities where liquor shops will be closed include Datia, Panna, Mandla, Multai, Mandsaur, and Maihar. The urban councils impacted are Omkareshwar, Maheshwar, Mandleshwar, Orchha, Chitrakoot, and Amarkantak.
As for the village panchayats, the ban will be implemented in Salkanpur, Barman Kala, Linga, Kundalpur, Bandakpur, and Barmankhurd. Additionally, the liquor ban within a five-kilometre radius of the Narmada river will continue, Yadav confirmed.
The proposal received approval during a special cabinet meeting held in Maheshwar, Khargone district, to mark the 300th birth anniversary year of Ahilyabai Holkar, the iconic 18th-century ruler of the Holkar dynasty. Maheshwar, a historic town and former kingdom of the Holkar dynasty, served as a symbolic location for the announcement.
