Calls to end the ban on sale of liquor during the ongoing lockdown have been a major demand in many states.
For one, state-run liquor shops are a vital source of revenue for multiple states. For example, Kerala typically earned revenue of Rs 48 crore from sales of its BEVCO outlets, while in Maharashtra, the monthly revenue figure was around Rs 1,250 crore. Not surprisingly, politicians cutting across party lines have argued for the 'economic' need in reopening liquor shops.
Now, a Congress MLA in Rajasthan has gone further and given a 'scientific' argument for wanting to open liquor outlets.
Bharat Singh Kundanpur, MLA for Sangod constituency, wrote to Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Thursday on the need to reopen liquor shops. Kundanpur's letter covered the usual bases of the need to earn revenue and the threats of people buying spurious liquor.
However, Kundanpur ended his letter on a curious note. Kundanpur wrote, "If coronavirus is cleaned by washing hands with alcohol (present in hand sanitisers), then the throats of drinkers will be cleaned of the virus by alcohol..." Kundanpur argued allowing liquor shops to open was much better than drinking spurious liquor.
Interestingly, Kundanpur is the second MLA in Rajasthan to publicly demand opening of liquor shops. In early April, Balwant Singh Punia, the CPI(M) MLA for Bhadra, wrote to Gehlot about the risk of the liquor mafia spreading its influence in the state given the ban on sales.
