HYDERABAD, FEB. 16. The Chief Minister, Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, has expressed the confidence that he will be able to convince everyone that the new excise policy of sanctioning bars to villages is a sound one.

He made these remarks when a delegation of the Anti-Liquor Joint Action Committee called on him at the Assembly on Wednesday.

Dr. Reddy said that the new policy was evolved with the aim of increasing profits for the Government and cutting down the same for dealers.

"Otherwise, dealers had been cornering 20 to 25 per cent of the profit. Since middlemen were eating into the profits, it was thought why not the Government take the lion's share," Dr. Reddy said.

The Chief Minister justified sanctioning bars to villages with a population of 25,000 and cited the case of Pedana Municipality. He said the municipality had a population of only 29,000, but had a bar, whereas Rayachoti was only a gram panchayat with a population of 62,000 and yet it did not have a bar.

It was with an intention to rationalise sanction of bars among towns and villages that the system was introduced, he added.

He also said that the previous Government sanctioned permit rooms to villages with a population of 5,000 to 10,000. The delegation comprised Malladi Subbamma, N. Laxmi Parvathi and others.