(This story originally appeared in on Dec 20, 2018)

(This article was originally published by The Economic Times on 20/12/2018.)NEW DELHI: The Yogi Adityanath government has ruled out imposition of prohibition in Uttar Pradesh , saying that neither is liquor the main reason for crime or lawlessness nor can the state afford to lose out on revenue from alcohol.The state government said this in reply in the state assembly on Wednesday by excise minister Jai Pratap Singh to a question posed by Samajwadi Party MLA Faeem Irfan and independent MLA Amanmani Tripathi.This position is starkly different from that of Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar , who had imposed prohibition in Bihar to clamp down on crime and lawlessness.UP earned Rs 17,000 crore from excise in 2017-18, up 20% from the previous financial year, and is targeting revenue of Rs 25,000 crore this year in excise from liquor sale. After the farm loan waiver of Rs 36,000 crore, the state is pressed for funds. “The excise department is the second most important revenue-earning department for financing the various developmental schemes of the state government. If we impose full prohibition in UP, government will be deprived of this revenue and various developmental schemes in the state could be affected,” the state excise minister said in his reply. He further said, “Liquor is the not the main reason for various kinds of crimes, lawlessness or disturbances occurring in the society. Crimes and such incidents of unrest happen due to many reasons, and it is not proper to blame alcohol solely for the same.”The state government said imposition of prohibition would mean that liquor consumers would not get quality-certified liquor in the state and may lead to consumption of illicit liquor smuggled into the state.