If Distancing Followed, Maha Liquor Shops Can Function: Tope
Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope on Monday said there should not be any ban on liquor shops in the state if social distancing measures, in place to curb the COVID-19 spread, are strictly followed.
Mumbai, Apr 20 (PTI) Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope on Monday said there should not be any ban on liquor shops in the state if social distancing measures, in place to curb the COVID-19 spread, are strictly followed.
Liquor shops are closed in the state since late month when the coronavirus-enforced lockdown was implemented.
"If social distancing is properly maintained, there should not be any ban on liquor shops," he said.
Tope was replying to a question on the state government not clarifying, in its April 17 notification, whether liquor shops will be allowed to remain open after it permitted resumption of industrial and business activities in non-coronavirus hotspots.
The health minister did not provide further details, but his response gave impression about possibility of allowing liquor shops to function with social distancing measures in place.
However, senior officials in the excise department categorically nixed any such possibility.
Liquor shops are closed as per the orders issued under the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 and the Disaster Management Act, 2005, because they do not fall in the category of essential commodities, a senior excise official told PTI.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)