Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Thursday directed the officials of the Department of Excise and Prohibition to keep a certain percentage of liquor shops reserved only for the members of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities interested in running wine shops in the State.
Reviewing the various works of the department at Project Building in Ranchi, Soren also asked officials to make necessary amendments in the laws related to liquor license in order to provide members of the ST/SC community an opportunity to run liquor shops and facilitate the process by providing reservations.
“Those members of the ST/SC community, who are interested in running liquor shops, should be provided licence if they fulfill the eligibility criteria. The department must also make necessary amendments in the laws related to liquor trade licenses in a bid to provide reservation for traders belonging to the ST/SC community,” said Soren.
The decision was taken in a bid to encourage members of ST/SC communities to run liquor businesses and prosper in it, sources from the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said. However, there was no clarity on the reservation percentage that the government plans for ST/SC traders in liquor business. Liquor trade is among the most lucrative business ventures in the country and usually sees handsome turnover.
Jharkhand, however, will not be the first State to provide a quota for the SC/ST community in liquor shops. The Karnataka government had come up with the idea of providing reservation to SC/ST businessmen in getting liquor trade licence in the southern state in 2014. Besides, Jammu & Kashmir too has provided reservation to the members of the SC/ST community in the state in getting liquor licence.
To facilitate the sale of liquor made with Mahua, the department is planning to launch special out still shops on the lines of Odisha in a bid to provide an opportunity to Mahua traders to sell liquor through these dedicated stores, said Excise Secretary Vinay Kumar Choubey. These stores will only sell country liquor manufactured and bottled in Jharkhand.
During the meeting on Thursday, Choubey informed the CM that revenue of Rs.1025 crore has been generated through the sale of liquor till November 2020 this year. The Covid-19-induced nationwide lockdown was responsible for major revenue loss this year as liquor shops remained closed from March 22 to May 19, he said. Later, the government increased taxes on liquor and also roped in third party delivery partners for home delivery of liquor, but the revenue loss was still haunting the government, sources said.
Soren told officials to ensure that all liquor shops in the state prominently display a rate chart in a bid to put a check on the practice of some shopkeepers demanding more than the MRP from consumers. He asked the department officials to fill the vacancies in the Excise department at the earliest and employ home-guards to compensate for the lack of excise constables in the state.