With tipplers were eagerly awaiting the word, the Madhya Pradesh, the state government announced its decision to reopen the liquor and hemp (Bhang) vends in 49 out of 52 districts from Tuesday. The excise revenue is very a key factor for the government's keenness to order reopening of the shops.
"The liquor and hemp shops won't re-open in Bhopal, Indore and Ujjain falling under the red zone from Tuesday till further orders," a government release said.
Considering what happened to the states like Delhi and Chhattisgarh which witnessed chaotic scenes, the government was expected to rethink on the issue.
However, it is the liquor retail contractors who are likely to move the state high court on Tuesday to oppose the government order, fearing heavy losses they will incur if the vends were opened under the fresh terms laid down post-lockdown.
The contractors who have invested high amounts for vending licenses will not be able to recover even a fraction in the present stipulations. Before the start of the lockdown, they could keep the shops open for more than 12 hours.
"We are opposed to the reopening of the liquor shops now as it would cause heavy losses to us. The sale will be high for initial two or three days.... after that it will nosedive due to the lock down," a liquor retailer said.
"We met state government officials to give suggestions regarding re-opening of liquor shops during pre-lunch session in Bhopal but by then the authorities had already passed an order clearing the way for resumption of sale from tomorrow," he said.
The sale would be minimal given that the bars and other drinking vends are closed, the liquor vendors believe. "We will be required to pay the license fee of our annual contract. It is hard to recover the license fee under such economic slowdown," the retailer said.
In other red zones of Jabalpur, Dhar, Barwani, Khandwa, Dewas and Gwalior, the liquor and hemp shops will re-open outside the urban limits of the district headquarters, the government said.
Shops in the orange zone districts of Khargone, Raisen, Hoshangabad, Ratlam, Agar-Malwa, Mandsaur, Sagar, Shajapur, Chhindwara, Alirajpur, Tikamgarh, Shahdol, Sheopur, Dindori, Burhanpur, Harda, Betul, Vidisha, Morena and Rewa will reopen. The shops will remain closed in the containment areas of these districts.
It said that all liquor shops will reopen in the green zone of the state from Tuesday.
All the licensees (liquor contractors) have been asked to observe the standard operating procedure (SPO). The authorities will announce the timings in their respective districts.
( With inputs from IANS )