Liquor to be available online in Kerala!

The state's present liquor policy, which comes into force at the beginning of every fiscal, was formulated by the previous Oommen Chandy government, as per which liquor is available only at two dozen five-star hotels in Kerala. The previous government had closed down more than 700 bars in the state in 2014 and 2015.

 In a move sure to raise the spirits of devotees of Bachhus in Kerala amid talks of "tweaking" the state liquor policy, an apex cooperative body's chairman has said liquor would be made available online from Onam next month.
"We are also willing to operate a liquor supermarket in Kozhikode, if we get the licence," Mehoob told reporters in Kozhikode.
Consumerfed is the apex body of consumer cooperatives and has 36 retail liquor outlets in Kerala.
The state's present liquor policy, which comes into force at the beginning of every fiscal, was formulated by the previous Oommen Chandy government, as per which liquor is available only at two dozen five-star hotels in Kerala. The previous government had closed down more than 700 bars in the state in 2014 and 2015.
During Chandy's rule, no new liquor outlets were opened but rather more than 60 retail outlets were closed.
Tourism Minister A.C. Moideen told the media that liquor should be made available at tourist destinations in Kerala.
Excise Minister T.P. Ramakrishnan too has spoken of what he called a "flawed" liquor policy and dropped enough hints that it will be tweaked.
Meanwhile, Congress's women leaders on Friday warned the Kerala government, led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, that it will face an all-women agitation if free flow of liquor was allowed in the state, a senior woman Congress leader said.
Kerala Mahila Congress president Bindhu Krishna, said it was a shame on the part of Excise Minister T.P. Ramakrishnan to say that it was not good to see people standing in long queues to purchase liquor.
Kerala needs to pay out Rs70 billion for Onam
The cash-strapped Kerala is heading for a tough time as it needs to pay out more than Rs70 billion around the festival season, said a top Finance Ministry.
  The Onam festival is celebrated across the communities here and employees of the state government and private sector get either a bonus or a festival advance for celebrations.
However, this time the state government employees have not received any advance payment of salary or festival bonus.

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