Delhi govt seeks details of liquor vends in all assembly constituencies

In a letter issued on Wednesday, Deputy Commissioner Sanjeev Kumar directed all the licensees of private as well as government liquor shops to submit the details by Friday.

The Delhi excise department has directed private individuals and government agencies to provide details of their liquor vends that are located in the assembly constituencies and at the Indira Gandhi International airport here.

Liquor bottles being carried in a gunny bag for illegal sale in Bihar. Police seized it showing how the bootleggers are adopting new methods to smuggle liqour for sale in dry Bihar India on Sunday Jan 13,2019.(Photo by Santosh Kumar/Hindustan Times)

In a letter issued on Wednesday, Deputy Commissioner Sanjeev Kumar directed all the licensees of private as well as government liquor shops to submit the details by Friday.

The letter said non-compliance by licensees of private vends will be viewed seriously.

There are around 850 liquor shops, including those run by government agencies and private individuals, in the national capital.

The move comes nearly a month after an excise committee formed by Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had suggested minimising the presence of Delhi government in retail liquor business and increasing private participation.

An official said the Delhi government runs around 60 per cent of the retail liquor shops while the rest is run by private individuals in the city.

The department has called a meeting on Friday with all four government agencies --- the Delhi Tourism and Transportation Development Corporation, the Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation, the Delhi State Civil Supplies Corporation Limited and the Delhi Consumers Cooperative Wholesale Store that have been given the permission to open liquor shops in public sector.

In a separate letter, the department also asked these agencies to furnish all details pertaining to their liquor vends, mentioning the names of the assembly constituency, revenue district and municipal ward.

Earlier this month, the government had constituted a Group of Ministers (GoM) under the deputy chief minister to examine the current system of excise duty administration and the recommendations of the expert committee on a new excise policy.

Health Minister Satyendar Jain and Law Minister Kailash Gahlot are part of the GoM that is examining all aspects of the current system of excise duty administration and going through the report of the expert committee and suggestions received from stakeholders and the public.

The expert committee had also recommended the legal drinking age in the city be reduced from 25 years to 21 years in line with cities of Gurgaon, Noida, Faridabad and Ghaziabad in the National Capital Region (NCR).