Restrictions On Andhra Liquor Outlets

The Andhra Pradesh government is expected to restrict the number of retail outlets for sale of Indian-made foreign liquor and beer to 1,000 shops, at least initially. The state government is reportedly in favour of restricting shops in rural areas to the Mandal headquarters as it hopes this will help minimise the fall-out of the prohibition amendment bill, which was passed on Wednesday in the legislative assembly.

Liquor retail outlets in the state numbered about 7,500 before the imposition of full prohibition by the Telugu Desam Party administration 26 months ago. The outlets, which were all privately owned, were a lucrative source of revenue for the government. With the licence fee per shop ranging from Rs 23,000 to Rs 70,000 per year depending upon the population of the city or town where the outlet was located the government earned about Rs 35 crore annually from the shops.

While the modalities for retailing liquor are yet to be worked out, Andhra Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu indicated that restrictions would be imposed on the number of outlets as well as their timings.

Naidu also asserted that public drinking and bars would not be permitted. The issue of granting licences to clubs will be considered later, after it is settled whether a club is a private or public place.

The state government is also divided over permitting private retail outlets to function. The divergent viewpoints became obvious during the last cabinet meeting, at which the bill to amend the Prohibition Act was finalised. While some ministers wanted retail distribution to be carried out only through semi-government bodies like the Breweries Corporation, Civil Supplies Corporation, or Tourism Corporation, others favoured reverting to the earlier system of private outlets.

The cabinet was also divided on whether shops should be allotted on the basis of fixed licence fee, as was the case in the pre-prohibition years, or whether retail licences should be auctioned in order to ensure transparency.

All these issues are likely to be sorted out at the next cabinet meeting, which is scheduled for April 1.

Meanwhile, all eyes are now on the Raj Bhavan, where the bill was despatched with the necessary enclosures yesterday afternoon. The Governors consent is awaited.

Over the past two days, several groups including representatives of several womens organisations have called on the Governor and urged him to withhold his assent to the bill.