- Many states have gone on record to say that they want to lift the ban on the sale of liquor during the coronavirus lockdown.
- However, the new lockdown guidelines issued by the Centre on Wednesday have reiterated that there should be complete ban on the sale of liquor.
- As per the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006, alcoholic beverages fall under the definition of food, which is an exempted item under the lockdown.
- Hence, some reports say that state governments may not need the Centre’s approval for opening liquor shops.
- States may be constrained with the new advisory issued invoking the Disaster Management Act of 2005.
- This says that the district authorities have to ensure
- But the state governments are running out of money to sustain their fight against novel coronavirus, and
- Alcohol sales are a good source of state revenue – about 25 per cent of all.
- Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kerjwial last week directed all government departments to stop all expenses except salaries of employees.
- He said there is no revenue generation for the government due to coronavirus lockdown.
- Kerala finance minister Thomas Isaac too stressed on the need for money while talking about the impact of the
- He said, “Most states have limited the borrowing to Rs 500- 1,000 crore [at interest rate of 9%] and started cutting salaries or halting other developmental activities.”
- There is another reason for states favouring sale of liquor during lockdown.
- There have been reports about the rise in the sale of illicit liquor from many parts across the country.
- In some other cases, unavailability of alcohol has caused medical issues for some drinkers.
- At least in Kerala and Meghalaya, there have been reports that non-availability of liquor caused some to attempt suicide.
- Going by consumption data, Kerala and Meghalaya have one of the highest per capita consumption of alcohol in India.
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