The Kerala Excise Department has suggested that the government could consider reopening of bar hotels in the state. It has mooted this in the wake of Unlock 4.0 announced by the Centre, which has given the green signal to reopen most of the sectors for business.
Excise Commissioner S Ananthakrishnan is learnt to have said that the government can consider the proposal to reopen the bar hotels, following the COVID-19 safety guidelines.
This includes reduced seating arrangements keeping physical distance and frequent disinfection of the bar premises, among others. Excise Minister TP Ramakrishnan said that the department has been mulling the option.
Currently, bars sell liquor through special take-home counters. The liquor is sold both at the bars and at the state beverages corporation outlets through the Bev Q app.
It is estimated that there are 596 bars, 350 beer and wine parlours in the state. The recommendation is also in the wake of reopening of bar hotels in several states like Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal.
The Kerala government had decided to shut all bars and liquor stores across the state on March 23. It was, however, decided at the time to keep open the state-run Kerala State Beverages Corporation (Bevco) outlets.
Two days later, the government decided to shut down the Bevco outlets and all toddy shops in the state.
The government had drawn criticism for not shutting down the Bevco outlets earlier.
Liquor sale in the state resumed on May 28 through the BevQ app. A virtual queue application, Bev Q is a token generating service provided by Bevco to ensure physical distancing at liquor shops. The liquor vendors, who have enrolled with the app, include 301 retail liquor vendors belonging to Bevco, besides 576 bars and 291 wine and beer shops.