Liquor traders stick to their stand, won’t open shops in Bhopal

BHOPAL: Liquor traders in Bhopal did not follow the government order to open their shops in the city areas on Friday. In a desperate attempt to open the shops to get excise duty, the government on Thursday night issued orders to open the shops. Shopkeepers said there were many “conditions” imposed, including one to “motivate customers” to download the Arogya Setu app.
Ten days ago, the government had also ordered liquor shops to open in rural areas of Bhopal and Indore, among other red zones identified for Covid-19, but the shopkeepers refused to operate.
Sources said that “lack of business” is the main reason behind the non-compliance of the government orders. After the May 4 order to open alcohol shops, the liquor business was down by “almost 60%”, leading to huge losses , the liquor association of MP said.
Liquor traders have urged the government to reduce the excise duty by 25% in view of the Covid-19 crisis and a case in this regard is pending before the high court.
But the cash-starved government insists on opening the shops as it needs revenue, sources said.
On Thursday night, around 10 pm, the excise commissioner issued the orders for the district collector to open liquor shops outside the containment areas of Bhopal .As soon as offices opened in the morning, the district collector issued the orders to open liquor shops in the municipal area of Bhopal, but with certain conditions. They incude shops at New Market, Kolar, Arera Colony, BHEL, Ayodhyanagar, Trilanga, Baghsewaniya, Baghmugaliya,Vitthal Market, Nehru Nagar, Bairagarh ,Gandhi Nagar, Neelbarh and Ratibarh, among others.