Rajesh Tope: Liquor shops can remain open if social distancing is followed strictly

Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope on Monday said if social distancing is properly followed there should not be any ban on liquor shops in the state. Liquor shops are closed in the state since late March when the COVID-19 lockdown was announced.

Tope was replying to a question on the state government not clarifying, in its April 17 notification, whether liquor shops will be allowed to remain open after it gave  conditional relaxation and resumption of industrial and business activities in non-coronavirus hotspots. The health minister did not provide further details, but his response gave impression about possibility of allowing liquor shops to function with social distancing measures in place.

However, senior officials in the excise department categorically nixed any such possibility. Liquor shops are closed as per the orders issued under the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 and the Disaster Management Act, 2005, because they do not fall in the category of essential commodities, said a senior excise official.