Dairy major Amul on Tuesday invited thousands of liquor outlets, set to lose their licences following the Supreme Court judgment, to convert them into milk bars instead and contribute to building a healthy nation.
The Managing Director of Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation ltd (Amul) RS Sondhi proposed converting the 16,000 liquor outlets which are set to lose their licences into Amul milk bars. Sodhi took to Twitter saying, “We invite all these 16,000 liquor shops/ bars to open @Amul milk bar for gainful employment and healthy nation building.”
Sondhi’s suggestion came against the backdrop of the Supreme Court’s recent ruling against liquor shops, hotels and pubs along national and state highways. He also shared a photo on the micro-blogging site saying “Amul keeps you in good spirits.”
The Apex Court had last week refused to allow liquor vends within 500 metres of national and state highways to sell liquor, in view of road accidents due to drunk driving.
Meanwhile, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant questioned the SC’s order asking as to why there was a need to kill tourism when it created so many jobs. He further said that 1 million jobs would be affected following the SC’s verdict.
Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi had also criticised the ban saying that the decision by the Apex Court would heavily affect the budget of the States. The SC last year said that the expressways had witnessed 4,208 accidents which had resulted in the death of 1,802 people and 4,229 were injured.
Union Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma said the Government is inviting suggestions to explore a “middle path” to help hoteliers and restaurant owners affected by the ruling. “We respect the Supreme Court order. We will take suggestions from legal experts to see whether there can be a middle path,” he maintained.