Long queues in front of the Kerala State Beverages Corporation, the State-run liquor supplier, are not uncommon. But in the past few days queues at the ‘Beverages’, as drinkers lovingly call the KSBC outlets, are longer. The reason: the State government has put on hold a decision on renewing the annual licences of 418 of the 753 ‘bar hotels,’ thus forcing the bars to keep shuttered since April 1. Following the closure of these low-end barscustomers are going to the KSBC outlets. This has increased sales at KSBC by around 20 per cent everyday.
Costly Affair
The KSBC is among the top three revenue earners for the Government. The State Cabinet had on Wednesday decided not to renew the licences of the 418 bars attached to hotels with the star rating of two and lower. However, the licences of those with three stars and higher would be renewed. By Friday, over 300 bars with three stars and above had renewed their licences.
The annual licences, costing ₹23 lakhs a piece, would normally have been renewed in March, but because of the Lok Sabha elections, the Government put on hold a new liquor policy, which is expected to be strict and aimed to check the increasing liquor consumption. Moreover, the president of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee, VM Sudheeran, who is critical about the current liquor policy, is said to have held the Government’s hand.
A report by a government agency had said the 418 bars had ‘substandard’ facilities and that they were poorly maintained. Hence, the State Cabinet took the convenient route of deciding to renew the licences of the bars other than the ‘substandard’ 418.
Arbitrary Decision The Kerala Bar Hotels Association is bitter about the decision. D Rajkumar, its president, told Business Line that the decision was ‘discriminatory, arbitrary and unrealistic.’ He said: “Not a single government agency has physically verified any of these bars for their facilities, quality of service or maintenance standards.” He said more than 50,000 people had become jobless because of the decision. The association was planning to challenge the decision in the High Court.