The government has asked those whose businesses have been shut down due to the Supreme Court ban on sale of liquor along the highway, to have patience as steps will be taken in the next two months to seek relief. Even over a week after liquor establishments along highways have downed shutters, there has been no change in the government’s response to the situation or any urgency shown. It is making the vocal sounds, but the action is sorely missing, and now just as the affected business persons are beginning to wonder what next, the government asks them to have patience.
The issue needs quick action, as there has already been a long delay. The first decision of the Supreme Court came on December 15, 2016, giving all States till March 31, 2017 to close down the liquor trade along highways and up to 500 metres from highways. In those three and a half months, the State of Goa did nothing to find a solution to the issue. It did not even consider joining some other States when those filed petitions in the Supreme Court seeking relief from the order.
The State, instead, relied heavily on advice of the Attorney General of India and the Advocate General of Goa, that in the event turned out to be wrong. The Attorney General and the Advocate General had opined that the Supreme Court decision did not include bars serving liquor on the highway. And, when bar owners were going about their business with little concern, the Supreme Court, in its second order, amending the first order, confirmed that its ruling included all liquor establishments, selling as well as serving liquor, including starred hotels along highways and 500 metres from them.
Thousands of liquor-affected businessmen and businesswomen gathered in Panjim this week as the associations called a meeting, where they were told, by the association heads, to have patience. This was followed up the next day in Margao, when the Chief Minister himself asked those affected by the ban to have patience. The government has to, however, remember that when livelihoods are at stake, patience can run out. If thousands of small, medium and large Goans in the liquor business have had to down shutters, it is solely because the local government was neither proactive nor reactive to the situation. It is a result of a collapse in the administration that was just not alive to the situation and the consequences.
In December last, when the first order came, didn’t the government realise that thousands of business across the State of Goa would have to close down? Consider the plight of those earning their living from these businesses – owners, employees, suppliers. Many are small family-run businesses that are decades old, and have third and fourth generation descendants of the original owners sitting behind the counter who have no other option to earn their living other than the liquor trade, whether it be retail or a bar. The families running these establishments need to know where their source of livelihood will be coming from during the next few months. The employees of these establishments need to know whether they will be getting a salary at the end of this month and the coming months.
There is already some disgruntlement among traders and asking them to have patience will not help soothe frayed nerves. Quick action is the only solution. Goa already has an example of how the mining operations that were shut down in 2012 are even now yet to fully start. This cannot be repeated with the liquor trade. The process to relocate shops and bars to areas that do not come under the ambit of the ban has to be commenced with immediate effect, even while the State simultaneously takes it case to the Supreme Court for a revision of its order.
