Several hundred students took to the streets in Alampur in Telangana’s Jogulamba Gadwal district demanding the eviction of liquor shops from a main junction in the town, near which many educational institutions are located. The students said that they face a lot of nuisance from the customers of the liquor shops on a daily basis.
Traffic was stalled for several kilometres in the town due to the rally. The students, belonging to different colleges in the neighbourhood, also staged a sit-in protest at the camp office of the local MLA, VM Abraham, before giving him a representation seeking eviction of the liquor shops. As per the guidelines of the Prohibition and Excise Department, liquor shops should not be allowed to be set up near schools and other educational institutions, and places of worship.
Alampur chowrasta, an important junction in the town that has schools, intermediate and residential degree colleges catering to hundreds of students from the town and neighbouring rural areas, has two liquor shops. Owing to restrictions and liquor prices in neighbouring Andhra’s Kurnool district, these shops witness a huge inflow of customers during working hours. The students said that drunk men often create a nuisance in the area.
Local police who held talks with the student leaders arranged a meeting with MLA Abraham before they called off the protest. The students gave the MLA time until December 2 to remove the shops from the area. The MLA has promised them that the shops will be shifted.
TNM tried to contact the MLA; however, he was unavailable for comment.
Responding to the students’ protest, former IPS officer and Bahujan Samaj Party Telangana state co-ordinator Dr RS Praveen Kumar appreciated the students for protesting against the liquor shops near educational institutions. Taking to Twitter, he said, “Congratulations to the Alampur students who agitated for the eviction of wine shops from near the schools. It would have been better if the KCR government had focused on education instead of liquor. Our Bahujan government will give top priority to education.”
పాఠశాలల వద్ద మద్యం దుకాణాలు మూసివేయాలని ఉద్యమించిన అలంపూరు విద్యార్థులకు జేజేలు. KCR ప్రభుత్వం మద్యం దుకాణాలపై పెట్టిన శ్రద్ద, విద్య పై పెట్టి ఉంటే బాగుంటుండె. మన బహుజన రాజ్యంలో అక్షరానికే పెద్ద పీట. pic.twitter.com/tVRU5jMU6Z
— Dr. RS Praveen Kumar (@RSPraveenSwaero) November 28, 2021
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