New abkari policy to be announced in February: Minister

Thiruvananthapuram: The government will announce its new abkari policy in February after discussions in the Left Democratic Front, Excise Minister T. P. Ramakrishnan told the Assembly on Monday.

The policy would take into account the setbacks suffered by the tourism industry as a result of the present policy, the Minister said while replying to the debate on the demands for grants for Excise, Labour, Labour Welfare and Welfare of Non-residents.

He said that the policy would be formulated after obtaining suggestions from the general public.

After the Minister’s reply, the House passed the demands for grants.