After 75% hike in the liquor price, AP Government reduced the number of shops selling liquor to another 13 per cent as per a Go released on Saturday. With its latest directive, the State Government has now declared that only 2,934 shops will be operational across the state going forward. It has also reduced the number of liquor shops in the state by 33 per cent. Previously, the AP Government cut down the number of liquor shops to 3500, a steep fall from 4380 shops. The directive states that all additional shops must be shut down by the end of May 2020. In a first for liquor shops in Andhra Pradesh, the ‘permit room’ attached to the shops will be done away with henceforth. So far, 43,000 belt shops have already been cleared off by the State Government, in a bid to reduce liquor consumption in the state. Here are some of the other new rules that are going to come into effect soon:
1. Possession and sale of liquor/beer bottles of any size is limited to three. Those found violating this rule will find themselves in trouble.
2. The shops will operate from 11AM – 8 PM as opposed to 10AM – 10PM previously. (With the lockdown restrictions, the wine shops are open from 11AM to 7PM across the state)
3. Number of bars across the state will be reduced by 40% as per a previously-given directive.
4. The ‘Madya Vimochana Prachara Committee’ will conduct awareness activities regarding the ill-effects of alcohol consumption across Andhra Pradesh.
5. Mahila Rakshaks, Mahila Mitra volunteers, Gram and Ward Volunteers will strictly enforce distillation in their respective zones.
6. Joint raids were conducted before and will continue to curb illicit distillation.
Earlier Special Chief Secretary (Revenue) Rajat Bhargava said that the steep hike in liquor rates was done to discourage people from purchasing liquor amid the pandemic. Authorities have stated that a detailed directive on which shops must be shut down by May 2020 will be released soon. Further, the government order revealed that the state’s stringent rules have yielded positive results. The sale of liquor has dropped by 24% and the sale of beer by a significant 55 per cent between October 2019 and March 2020.
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