After days of indecision, the Pinarayi Vijayan government has decided to shut the outlets of the Kerala State Beverages Corporation Limited (BEVCO), the sole distributor of alcoholic beverages in the state. The continued operations of BEVCO during the ongoing shutdown to control spread of the novel coronavirus pandemic had become a point of debate.
Manorama News reported that the Kerala government decided to shut operations of BEVCO at a meeting late on Tuesday. G. Sparjan Kumar, managing director of BEVCO, reportedly informed managers that outlets would be shut on Wednesday. The decision on how long BEVCO outlets would be shut would be taken by a meeting of the state cabinet, expected to be held on Wednesday.
There are 270 BEVCO outlets in total. Five of the outlets have not been functioning this week on account of the lockdown measures.
Manorama News reported that the decision to stop operations of BEVCO was taken after Excise Minister T.P. Ramakrishnan was advised that continuing sales would be counterproductive during the prolonged lockdown.
The Pinarayi Vijayan government, which has earned praise for its measures against the coronavirus, has been panned for keeping BEVCO outlets open even as authorities ramped up social-distancing measures over the past week. While BEVCO had introduced measures like a queue of 30 people and COVID-19: Social distancing seen outside Kerala beverage shops, overcrowding had been reported at multiple outlets.
On Tuesday, the Kerala government had shortened the working hours of BEVCO, allowing sales from 10am to 5pm.
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Ramesh Chennithala, leader of the opposition in Kerala, had claimed the Vijayan government was going after revenue. BEVCO sales fetch around RS 48 crore a day, a major source of income for the state. The Telegraph reported, "Kerala earned revenues of Rs 14,505.67 crore in the 2018-2019 financial year from the sale of Indian-made foreign liquor and beer."
