Liquor contractors decry sealing of liquor shops in name of checking

BHOPAL: Peeved over the alleged sealing of the liquor outlets on pretext of checking in the state capital, the liquor contractors handed over a memorandum addressed to finance Minister Jagdish Deora seeking his intervention. The contractors have also expressed their reservation to the new excise policy.

Liquor shops were shut down from February 17 to 18 in the name of alleged checking and so the excise department should give them exemption in license fee, said the members of liquor contractors’ association while talking to media persons here on Friday. They claimed that contractors incurred losses up to Rs 2 crore.

The liquor contractors in 17 districts including Bhopal, Indore, Gwalior and Jabalpur are protesting against the new excise policy, claimed the members.

A delegation of association called on the minister at his residence on Friday to hand over a memorandum, however since the minister was unavailable, the memo was given to officials. The delegation included association president Srikant Sharma, Ajay Shivhare, KP Singh and others.

The officials claim that they have been ordered from higher ups to conduct routine checking and sealing the liquor shops, however, not buying their claim, the association members demanded that contractors should be provided a copy of order.

There are 90 out-lets of liquor in the state capital but only 32 of them have been auctioned for April 1, 2022 to March 31,2022. The excise department has increased the reserved price by 25% which has hit contractors financially. Besides, in the new excise policy there is provision to sell country-liquor and wine from a single shop but the decision has not gone down well with the liquor operators. Similarly, earlier a contractor used to operate shops in a particular district but now the department has made provision to make a cluster of three shops and the contractors are not interested in bidding for shops.