Even as the Centre has allowed liquor stores to be opened across states starting from Monday, the Andhra Pradesh government has decided to continue taking steps towards prohibition in the state. While liquor stores will open in the state as per the Centre’s guidelines, alcohol prices will be increased by 25%.
The decision was announced after a COVID-19 review meeting convened by Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy. Apart from the hike in liquor prices, the number of liquor stores in the state will also be further reduced.
The decisions were made to discourage alcohol consumption and to reduce crowding at liquor stores at the same time. Liquor stores will only be allowed to operate while following physical distance protocols. According to the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs, liquor stores are allowed to open in red, orange and green zones, but not in containment zones. Customers are only allowed to gather in front of shops in small groups of five people or less, with a physical distance of at least six feet between each other.
Alcohol prohibition is one of the major campaign promises made by Jagan before coming to power, and the YSRCP government had already taken a few steps in that direction in the past year. The number of liquor retail stores has already been reduced from 4,380 to 3,500, and store timings have been shortened. The shops were also overtaken by the state-owned Andhra Pradesh State Beverages Corporation Ltd.
On Sunday, Andhra Pradesh recorded 58 new COVID-19 cases, taking the state’s tally up to 1,583 cases. Even as the state has ramped up testing, the number of positive cases has been declining over the past few days. On Saturday, 62 cases were reported from the state, while 61 cases were reported on Friday. The state had reported the highest number of new cases in a single day on April 26.
Kurnool continued to be the top coronavirus hotspot in the state, with 30 cases reported from the district. With this, the district tally of COVID-19 cases stands at 466. Of the 33 deaths recorded in the state so far, 10 cases have been reported from Kurnool district alone. A total of 488 persons have recovered in the state so far.
(IANS inputs)