Odisha govt yet to take a call on opening of liquor shops

Bhubaneswar: Even though the Union government has allowed some relaxations in opening of liquor shops in lockdown 3.0, the Odisha government is yet to take a call on opening of the liquor shops in the state.

Besides, the state is yet to renew licenses of the shops as they had expired on March 31.

Cuttack Municipal Corporation has allowed opening of liquor shops in its jurisdiction.

However, the Excise department has restricted opening of liquor shops in Odisha.

Official sources said the government is likely to take a decision soon on the issue.

Meanwhile, several districts including Gajapati, Jagatsinghpur, Ganjam, Mayurbhanj district administration issued an order to keep liquor shops closed during the entire third phase of the nationwide lockdown.

The Wine Shop Owners’ Association in Odisha also requested the state government not to open the liquor shops and appealed to postpone the re-opening of the shops by 15 days.