The third phase of two weeks nationwide lockdown from May 4 has been declared by Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) with a list of rules and regulations to be followed depending upon the severity of COVID-19 in a particular district. Government has finally allowed the liquor shops to open but with proper limitations.
The government has permitted the orange and green zones to resume functioning of their liquor shops. In addition to this, the counters outside the red zones and containment zones will also operate from May 4.
The order is permissible only for the stand-alone shops. The same order is also applicable to the tobacco shops. Though the government has strictly prohibited the sale of liquor and tobacco in shopping malls or complexes until further notice.
The owners of these shops have been asked to strictly follow the instructions issued by the government about social distancing and make the customers maintain a distance of two-metre between themselves. They should not allow more than 5 persons at a time in the shop.
States were putting pressure on the Central Government to open these shops as they could provide a lump sum amount of tax for their exhausting capital.
The sale of liquors and tobacco (paan/ gutka) was prohibited since the first lockdown was implemented from March 24 by our Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
