Wine Shops in Andhra Pradesh have opened after more than 40 days. The State has witnessed Liquor sale worth 68 crores on a single day on Monday. Reports say that this is the highest amount in any state across the country on the first day of the Wine Shops opening.
The state has 3500 total outlets and 2300 were operational on Monday. The state government announced a hike of 25% to discourage the Tipplers but that proved zero impact. Social Distancing is violated at all the places fearing that the Wine Shops may become breeder grounds for Coronavirus.
The Government today hiked the price by another 50%. That takes the rates 75% up when compared to the Pre-Lockdown prices. Early reports coming in that the crowds at the Wine Shops are more or less the same as yesterday. The majority of the people and experts were not convinced that Price Hike would deter Tipplers from drinking.
“Government is becoming greedy about money. They are keen on minting money for Government Schemes using Liquor. So, taxes are increased. Instead of being cautious, it has gone greedy,” Lavanya, Housewife from Vishakapatnam alleged. The government has deployed Police, Volunteers, RTC Staff, Teachers to regulate the queues at the Wine Shops.
The Price Hike at this time may lead to domestic violence, crimes, etc. This is a dangerous risk being taken by the Government for the Revenues and can prove costly to the state as well as the image of the Ruling Party.
