Wine shops, bottling plants & breweries re-open in Assam amid Coronavirus lockdown
Assam govt on Sunday decided to open the wine shops, bottling plants and breweries in the state The decision was taken in the cabinet meeting chaired by CM.
- India News
- 2 min read
The Assam government on Sunday decided to re-open the wine shops, bottling plants and breweries in the state. The decision was taken in the cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal.
'If we don't open the wine shop...'
The decision was taken, keeping in view the move by the state of Meghalaya which shares its border with Assam, said a source in the excise department. Meghalaya government on Saturday decided to open the wine shops in the state.
Sensing loss of revenue, the Assam government made a similar move as otherwise there are high chances of people living in the bordering areas to throng the wine shops in Meghalaya to get their daily dose.
Excise Minister of Assam Parimal Suklabaidya told Republic Media Network over the phone that the decision was taken as the closure of liquor outlets in the State, led to a significant increase in illicit country liquor trade in the state over the last 19 days. “If we don’t open the wine shops, there are high chances of people dying after consuming country liquor instead of Corona,” said Suklabaidya.
Meanwhile, even as many criticized the move of the government to open the liquor outlets, breweries and bottling plants, many on the other hand said that it is a good move. Some even suggested that the state should impose a COVID-19 cess on liquor so that the money can be used for COVID fund.
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However, the State government has fixed the timing for the wine shops to do business from 10 am to 5 pm only. As soon as the wine shops opened on Monday at 10 am, people stood in line to get their bottles. It has been seen that people are adhering to the social distancing measures imposed by the government.