Liquor, lockdown 4.0, exams top on Telangana Cabinet meet today

Hyderabad: Will the State Cabinet scheduled to meet here on Tuesday decide on further extending the lockdown? Sources indicate that there is every possibility of doing so. Sources said that there are clear indications that the Centre too might go in for the lockdown 4.0 after May 17.

In fact, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had hinted at such a possibility during his last press conference on April 26 after a review meeting. On the other hand, combating Covid-19 cases under the GHMC limits has become a major challenge for the government.

The State government is caught in a catch 22 situation. On one hand some states like Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh have relaxed the lockdown rules and permitted opening of liquor shops.

The government feels that this is one of the important areas for revenue particularly when the Centre has so far not decided on announcing another package to help the states and appears to be in a state of confusion.

In this situation, the only option before the state governments is to permit the liquor shops to open.

But the way the guzzlers behaved in Andhra Pradesh on day one of opening of the shops has stunned the TS government.

Huge queue lines, social distancing going for a toss and incidents like a youngster from Gudur mandal dying in a bike accident as he drove the vehicle in an inebriated condition, suicide by a housewife and daughter in Chittoor district, etc, have now pushed the TS government to re-think on the issue.

According to sources, one of the options it has before it is to supply liquor at doorsteps or issue token to consumers. Though the central guidelines say that liquor shops should be opened only in green zones, there is no way to check people from red zones going to liquor shops in green zones.

Instances of people crossing the TS border to buy liquor in AP have also come to light on Monday. Hence the government feels that it should open liquor shops only after preparing a proper action plan.

Another major issue before the Cabinet is to decide on the dates for conduct of Class X exams, EAMCET and other common entrance tests.

It is also likely to consider announcement of a relief package for the workers who lost their livelihoods in the unorganized sectors and the partial relaxation to some sectors as per the central guidelines.