With the raids by excise and police authorities to dismantle liquor joints in the State stepping up, the West Bengal Chief Minister, Ms Mamata Banerjee, on Friday said the Government was contemplating a social security scheme for people engaged in hooch and illicit liquor trade.
“Traders in hooch and illicit liquor will be offered a social security scheme to find an alternative means of livelihood for them,” the Chief Minister told reporters after a high-level meeting to review law and order. As many as 173 people lost their lives after consuming toxic liquor in South 24 Parganas district on December 14.