Liquor shops to open from Wednesday in Odisha

Liquor shops which have been shut for over three months due to the coronavirus crisis are all set to re-open from Wednesday.

As per the official order of the Excise Department of Odisha Government, "Counter sale of FMFl/ IMFL/wine/Beer/RTD in the licensed IMFL OFF and ON Shops will be allowed in addition to home delivery of these items from July 1."

"However, Government has restricted the opening hours of shops from 7 am to 6 pm to avoid the evening crowd and ON shops are being allowed to operate as OFF shops for counter sale, as it will increase the numbers of outlets, will thus help in checking the overcrowding," the order reads.

In order to regulate the crowd at shops an online system for the generation of e-token for slot booking has been developed by Odisha State Beverage Corporation (OSBC).

The retailers will have to employ additional manpower with specific responsibility to ensure regulations of queues and maintaining of social distancing norms by customers.

The retailers will also have to ensure all the staff in their shops use face masks and frequently stize the shops, they also cannot entertain customers without face masks and those violating social distancing norms, the order said.

( With inputs from ANI )