Liquor Shops In Himachal Pradesh To Open From Monday

During a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Saturday, Himachal Pradesh government decided to allow the operation of liquor vendors in the state and not to charge any licence fee from liquor vends which remained closed during lockdown.

Lahaul & Spiti: Villagers work in an agricultural field during ongoing COVID-19 lockdown in Lahaul & Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh, PIC/PTI

Himachal Pradesh: With the third phase of coronavirus lockdown beginning from May 4, the Himachal Pradesh government has decided to allow the operation of liquor vendors in the state. Himachal Parliamentary Affairs Minister Suresh Bhardwaj told reporters that during a cabinet meeting on Saturday, it was decided not to charge any licence fee from liquor vends for the period (March 22 to May 3) these remained closed due to the coronavirus lockdown. He said it was also decided in the cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur to change the excise policy period for the current and the next fiscal year. The excise policy for 2019-20 will continue till May 31 against the earlier March 31, he said, adding that the period of the excise policy for 2020-21 will start from June 1 and continue till May 31, 2021. Similarly, the toll barrier policy for the 2019-20 financial year will continue till May 31, whereas for 2020-21, it will start from June 1 this year and continue till May 31 next year. Giving some relaxations, the Union government had on Friday extended the lockdown by two weeks till May 17. The third phase of lockdown has come with certain relaxations including opening of industries for green and orange districts which either have nil or low number of cases. Irrespective of the zone, travel by air, rail, metro and inter-state movement by road will remain banned. (With inputs from PTI news agency)