Nellore: Owners of bars asked to sell liquor stocks through government shops

Nellore : The state government has given a shock to the bars and restaurants directing them to clear liquor stocks through the Government liquor shops. In fact, they were closed since March 22 and many were having huge stocks of liquor. Now, the State Government instructed the IML Depot officials to visit the places and verify the stocks and accord permission for selling them at the special counters following the price tag suggested by the government.

Bars and restaurants have planned to start direct sales. But the Government simply asked them to clear the old stocks through the shops by opening special counters.

Special Chief Secretary Dr Rajat Bhargava issued clear directions in this regard late on Monday.

There are 46 bars and restaurants in the entire district and huge stocks of liquor were there since the commencement of lockdown. Further, the license validity of bars is also going to lapse by the end of June.

They approached the Excise department seeking directions on how to clear the stocks. The state government directed the officials suggesting the ways to clear the stocks. As per the procedure, officials from the nearby IML depot visit the bar and collect the details of brand-wise stock.

Then, they shift the entire stocks to the Government shops opening special counters and sell them according to government prices. Managements of bars were asked not to sell the backlog stocks on their own.

But analysts suspect irregularities by the staff members of the liquor shops. Earlier, during the lockdown, some staff members of the shops violated the containment guidelines and simply opened the Government shops and sold the stocks to the people at exorbitant prices.