Karnataka Excise Minister H Nagesh stated that the Karnataka government is not planning door delivery of liquor to individuals in the state. This came less than 24 hours after announcing that there was a proposal to implement such a system.
Nagesh told the press on Thursday that his earlier statement was misinterpreted. “There are no such proposals (of starting mobile liquor shop and online liquor sale) before the state government. My statement has been misinterpreted", he said, according to Times of India.
On Wednesday, Nagesh had announced a proposal of delivering liquor to home. He had also spoken about a system of mobile sales units of liquor in the thandas (colonies) of tribal communities. The proposal stemmed from concerns over how people were travelling 10-15 km to find a liquor shop in some remote areas of the state.
“I had cited examples of liquor delivery systems in many other states. There is no plan of delivering liquor to someone’s doorstep. I apologise to women who felt offended by my statement. Our objective is to eradicate illicit liquor from the state,” he said as per The Hindu.
The announcement of the proposal came nine months after a protest march by women from rural parts of Karnataka demanding a statewide ban on the sale of alcohol. Women, most of whom were from rural areas, marched from Chitradurga to Bengaluru, a distance of 200 km and held interactions in villages along the way about their protest.
Nagesh has now acknowledged the protest and apologised to women following the retraction of his earlier statement. He further denied that the government was looking to increase the sales of liquor in the state.
Towards the end of 2018, the Karnataka government disallowed the delivery of liquor in the state claiming that it had not created a license for it. The Excise department pulled up internet-based alcohol delivery systems and those affected include popular local concierge applications 'Dunzo and HipBar.
H Nagesh is the only independent MLA in the Karnataka cabinet. He was elected from the Mulbagal constituency and was also part of the cabinet in the coalition government formed by former Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy.