The discord between Madhya Pradesh government and liquor traders seems far from over as the MP Liquor Traders’ Association on Monday announced indefinite closure of vends in protest against the government’s refusal to accept their demand to lower licence fee among others.
The liquor traders have been in talks with the government for a while but to no avail. The decision to close down outlets was taken despite the fact that a petition on the issue is pending with the Madhya Pradesh High Court, the next hearing for which is scheduled on May 27.
The traders says they have been repeatedly urging the government to lower the licence fee in the wake of the adverse impact of the lockdown on sale of liquor.
The state government did offer some relaxations but majority of the traders were not satisfied with these measures.
Amid this, the excise department had also threatened to cancel contracts of these liquor shops.
Sources also claimed that a section of traders are of the view that the shops should continue to operate while the other section is adamant on exerting pressure on the state government for accepting their demands including lowering of licence fee.
The association representing 90 liquor shops had recently announced that they will not reopen their shops in rural areas, as allowed by the district administration.
Amid lockdown 4.0, the Shivraj government has allowed green zones to reopen liquor shops while those falling under red zone are yet to get the approval for liquor sale.