Excise dept to reconsider amended guidelines

SHILLONG: The Excise department is planning to revisit the amended guidelines which restricted the setting up of liquor stores in the State even as 88 liquor stores have been re-located from their current locations.
An official source said on Thursday that after the Tura by-election, the department will examine the amended guidelines to have a balanced approach.
The September 23, 2015 amended notification states that liquor shops should not be set up within 200 meters of places of public worship, educational institutions and hospitals.
The order also restricts setting up of liquor stores within a distance of 50 metres from the mid-point of national/state highways within the city/town limits, and 100 metres from mid-point of national and state highways on the outskirts.
Following this, the liquor store owners had approached    the High Court which, however, had upheld the order of the Excise department.
Recently, the liquor store owners withdrew the case from the High Court which gave scope for the State government to redress the grievances of the owners if they approach the government.
An official with the Excise department admitted that restriction on setting up of liquor stores has affected the revenue of the State.
Last year’s (2015-16) revenue was Rs.166 crore and this year, with the ban, the government does not expect the revenue to exceed Rs.100 crore.