Liquor sale in Gurugram to start from Wednesday, Haryana imposes cess

Around 218 liquor shops located in Gururgam will open on Wednesday, after the state government on Tuesday announced a series of relaxations, following the implementation

Around 218 liquor shops located in Gururgam will open on Wednesday, after the state government on Tuesday announced a series of relaxations, following the implementation of Lockdown 3.0 in the district. The government has imposed a variable Covid cess on liquor items to support areas and institutions, which have been adversely hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.

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The state government is also analysing the experience of other states that had opened liquor vends on Monday.

Haryana has been suffering average monthly revenue loss of ₹3,00 crore due to the ongoing lockdown to check the spread of Covid-19, said officials.

The state excise officials said they have sent a list of liquor vends that can allowed to be open following the issuance of the safety guidelines by the ministry of home affairs (MHA).

The decision was taken after the deputy chief minister Dushyant Chautala, who holds the additional portfolios of excise and taxation, held a meeting in Chandigarh and ordered all the taxation commissioners (DETCs) of the state to get the liquor vends open by the morning of May 6. It was also decided that the vends would allowed to be open between 7am and 7pm daily.

H C Dahiya, deputy excise and taxation commissioner (west), said that the state has imposed the Covid cess on the sale of liquor from both wholesalers as well as retail outlets across the city. “Further, only liquor vends have been granted permission to open. The ahatas, also known as anukat kash, are not allowed to start their operations until further orders. It would be the responsibility of the licensee to ensure that no liquor is consumed in and around his retail outlet. Otherwise, the licence to run the liquor vend will be cancelled,” he said.

Officials said, as per the order, no crowding at the sales counter shall be tolerated by the district administration.

A distance of at least six feet shall be maintained by the customers under all circumstances and only five customers at a time will be allowed to stand at the sales counter of the retail liquor vend.

Aruna Singh, DETC (east), said that they have formed teams, who will be deployed at all the liquor vends and will ensure that no one violates the rules and regulations. “ They have been instructed to ensure that proper demarcation is maintained outside the shops and to check if face masks and hand sanitisers are placed at the counters,” she said.

Officials said except for those in the containment zones, all liquor shops will be operational.

Muhammad Akil, Gurugram police commissioner said, that they have deployed teams across the city to monitor liquor vends. “Teams have been assigned the task to ensure that demarcation for social distancing is carried out on Tuesday night and to check if each person is wearing a face mask and using hand sanitisers before entering the shops,” he said.

Akil said he has also directed the police team to set up a barricade at least 100 metres before the liquor shops so that the situation can be controlled if there is overcrowding.

“We have asked the excise officials to deploy one of their officials at each liquor shop to control the crowd. Anyone found violating the rules and regulations will be booked under relevant sections of Indian Penal Code(IPC) and we will ask for the cancellation of their licences,” said Akil.