Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) President Raj Thackeray wrote an open letter to his cousin and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray advocating sale of liquor in the state. He said lifting of the lockdown is nowhere in sight and as such banning liquor sales will impact state revenues. “Since 18th March, our state is in a lockdown phase. First, the deadline was March 31, then extended to April 14, now it stands at May 3. How long will this lockdown phase keep getting extended cannot be ascertained,” he said.
The letter to the CM also said that canteens and low-budget restaurants should be allowed to open as they serve affordable food to a large part of the population.
The State earns ₹41.66 crore per day in excise duty on liquor, ₹1,250 crore per month and ₹14,000 crore yearly, he said. “A very pressing issue on hand is the fast depletion of our State treasury and this needs an incoming flow rather urgently.”
His statement came a couple of days after Health Minister Rajesh Tope made an open-ended statement that there should be no problems in permitting liquor shops provided they follow social distancing and other norm.
“The need of the hour is to be economically self-reliant and this solution needs to be taken up seriously,” said Raj Thackeray.
Surjitt sahani
