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Bhubaneswar:24/5/20: A day after Odisha government allowed online sale of liquor in the State, the foreign liquor (FL) trader associations on Sunday demanded over-the-counter sale of alcohol apart from the online sale.
“Once the liquor shops are opened, we will have to pay the fixed taxes and it will not be possible for us to meet the monthly minimum quota through the online sale,” said Biranchi Narayan Sahoo, secretary of Cuttack Liquor Traders’ Association.
Both online and offline sales of liquor needs to be allowed as online sales will not help the traders meet the target, said Sahoo. Speaking on the incident, Khurda Excise Superintendent Prasanna Kumar Acharya said that a meeting was held with the trader associations on Sunday and they have been given assurances of police protection for opening shops.
There seems a lot of difference between what is being said and done by the Odisha government, alleged Naik.
Congress MLA Sura Routray alleged rampant illegal sale of liquor during the lockdown in the State and said, ‘once the sops are opened, people are not going to follow any norms.’
However, State Excise Minister Niranjan Pujari said that online sale of liquor has already begun in Odisha and all measures have been taken to strictly follow the social distancing norms.
On the other hand Online sales of liquor will begin in Cuttack from tomorrow (May 25) amid the nationwide COVID-19 lockdown, informed Cuttack district Collector Bhabani Shankar Chayani on Sunday.
The home delivery of liquor will begin in the district from tomorrow morning.
Following a meeting with the Cuttack Liquor Traders’ Association, it has been decided that the liquor shops in the district will start taking online orders from tomorrow morning, said Chayani.
