Dry day to continue in Kerala

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The first half of the current financial year is over and the government is yet to formally announce the new liquor policy. A circular was issued last month to extend the license of the existing toddy shops till March 31 of next year.

As the legislative session is scheduled to begin on the 4th of next month, there is little chance for the announcement of liquor policy anytime soon. Liquor policy needs to include concessions in the operation of liquor shops in the tourism sector, reducing the distance between toddy shops in such areas.

The tourism department and some related organizations have demanded increasing working hours of foreign liquor shops in tourism areas. They have also requested the government ban the dry day system in Kerala.

The government had conducted multiple discussions with bar owners, toddy shop licensees, distillery representatives, and tourism sector representatives to draft the liquor policy. As per new reports, the government will hold one more discussion with the aforementioned organizations to finalize the policy.

For a long, the bar owners have been calling for a ban on dry days on the first of every month. Earlier, a WhatsApp message by a leader of the bar owners' organization turned controversial forcing the government to delay the process of formulation of liquor policy. The demand to exclude toddy shops from Dry days is unlikely to be considered.

The shop owners reasoned that the toddy tapped on dry day is usually being wasted and thus demanded the government reconsider the decision. Another important demand is to reduce the distance limit of toddy shops from 400 meters. The distance limit is 200 meters for three-star and four-star bars and 50 meters for five-star bars.