New Delhi: The Delhi government has given a big blow to the alcohol enthusiasts. A 70 percent ‘special corona fee’ has been imposed on liquor sales in the national capital. Now in Delhi, liquor will be available at a rate 70% higher than the current rate. The increased prices will be effective from Tuesday. The 70% tax levied on MRP means that the bottle of liquor available in Delhi for 1000 rupees will be available from today for 1700 rupees. This decision of the Delhi Government is also being considered as a way of removing the crowd from liquor shops.
Immediately after getting the lockdown exemption, there was an uncontrolled crowd of people at liquor shops throughout the day on Monday. All the social distancing lessons at liquor shops failed.
During the relaxation of the first day of Lockdown 3.0, people blasted social distancing in Delhi. A large number of people flocked to liquor shops, which led to a stampede-like situation at many liquor shops. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also expressed his displeasure at the uncontrolled situation at the shops. He clearly said that if people do not follow social distancing, then we will seal the entire area. Not only this, if such a situation arises again, action will also be taken against the shop owner.
A few hours after Kejriwal’s displeasure surfaced, the decision to increase the price of alcohol in Delhi was also announced. It is believed that increasing the rate will reduce the congestion at the shops. The Kejriwal government came under attack from the opposition after making a mockery of social distancing by a large crowd at liquor shops. After this CM Kejriwal himself came forward and appealed to the people to follow social distancing. He said that we had given exemption as per the guidelines of the Central Government. Today (on Monday) I am sad to see that people did not follow social distancing in front of some shops. Due to this there was a situation of stampede. It was your loss only. If anyone was there, Corona could be you too. The Ministry of Home Affairs had extended the lockdown period for two more weeks from Monday and allowed opening of liquor and tobacco shops in all zones.
