Punjab Finance, Excise and Taxation Minister Advocate Harpal Singh Cheema on Wednesday urged the Centre to take decisive steps to regulate and monitor methyl alcohol (methanol), stressing the need for a dedicated Central law to prevent hooch tragedies and safeguard human lives.
Cheema made the remarks while chairing a high-level review meeting attended by Additional Chief Secretary (Excise) D.K. Tiwari and Excise and Taxation Commissioner Jitendra Jorwal.
Highlighting the challenges involved in regulating methanol, Cheema said nearly 90 per cent of the chemical consumed in India is imported. After entering the country through ports and customs points, it passes through several states before reaching industrial end-users.
“Since methanol crosses multiple state boundaries during transit, its movement falls under Entry 41 of List I of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution, which deals with trade and commerce with foreign countries and inter-state trade. No individual state government has either the legal jurisdiction or the technical infrastructure to independently track and regulate this nationwide supply chain,” he said.
Therefore, a Central legislative framework is constitutionally necessary to ensure effective oversight and monitoring, Cheema said.
Pointing to another major concern, the minister said methanol is readily available on leading e-commerce platforms and is currently treated as a regular chemical commodity.
“Methanol can be purchased online without identity verification, documentation or disclosure of its intended use. This unrestricted access poses a serious regulatory challenge and increases the risk of diversion for illicit purposes,” he said.
Cheema added that the ease of online availability hampers the ability of state enforcement agencies to monitor, intercept or prevent misuse of the toxic substance.
“Since national e-commerce platforms are governed by Central laws, only a Central legislative framework can ensure end-to-end accountability and effective regulation of online methanol sales,” he said.
