Excise officials have clearly told liquor contractors that this time they must increase revenue by at least 15 percent. For this, they can sell liquor at any price they want; no official from the department will question them. This means that the officials have verbally given them an official license to openly engage in black marketing. However, this has created resentment among drinkers against the government.
Liquor enthusiasts say that before coming to power, the Bhagwant Mann government had promised that it would not allow liquor to be sold at arbitrary prices in Punjab. They had said that just as liquor was made cheaper in Delhi, it would be made cheaper in Punjab as well. But after three years, the government has not only failed to make liquor cheaper, but has instead increased the price by more than 50 percent. Liquor enthusiasts say that such black marketing has never happened in Punjab under the rule of any other party. It’s as if the contractors have been given a license to openly sell liquor at arbitrary prices. It has been revealed that some liquor contractors have also hidden last year’s stock illegally. They will openly sell this stock during this current surge in prices. No official will even look in that direction. When ETO Tanual Goyal was asked about this, he still defended the contractors, saying that bottles are being sold at the old prices at retail counters.
Buyers purchased less liquor than needed
Seeing the high prices of liquor, buyers purchased less liquor than they needed. A survey of about four dozen liquor shops in the city revealed that fewer bottles were sold than usual, but the revenue definitely increased. Liquor enthusiasts have started discussing in the market that the government is harassing the public for its own revenue, but now the public will buy less liquor because of this. Now the question is, if alcohol enthusiasts actually reduce their consumption, it will not only harm the government but also ruin the contractors.
