LUCKNOW, March 8 -- District excise officials were on Saturday asked to meet the department's revenue targets for the current financial year and launch a crackdown on illicit liquor. Excise officers of Kanpur Nagar, Agra, Meerut, Bijnor, Lucknow, Bulandshahr, Hathras, Moradabad, Aligarh, and Bareilly-the ten districts with the lowest revenue collections over the past year- were also asked to provide clarification and grant an additional week for license renewals for liquor and cannabis shops. In a meeting to review departmental work with senior officials at the Sugarcane Institute in Dalibagh here on Saturday, UP minister of state for excise and prohibition (independent charge) Nitin Agarwal also called for a crackdown on illicit liquor from neighbouring states, as well as raw, adulterated, and stolen liquor. The minister directed that the situation be monitored and that district enforcement teams take effective action against those causing revenue losses. He also directed the district excise officers to act on complaints related to overpricing, disruptions to the operations of industrial units, and harassment. The minister also ordered an investigation into the actions of the district excise officer of Bijnor and directed that a report on his irresponsible conduct towards the liquor industry be submitted to the government. Agarwal said the department had been set a revenue target of Rs.63,000 crore for 2025-26. Till February, it had collected Rs.50,585 crore - Rs.7,756.36 crore more than the Rs.42,828.57 crore collected during the same period last year. In February alone, the department collected Rs.6,635.79 crore, compared with Rs.4,928.22 crore in the same month last year. Officials also seized 2,76,438 litres of illicit liquor during the month. Additional chief secretary (excise) Veena Kumari Meena, excise commissioner Adarsh Singh, special secretary Abhishek Anand and other departmental officers were present in the meeting and all district excise officers participated virtually....