Shopkeepers suffer loss due to Jharkhand's new liquor policy. file photo
Jagran correspondent, Hazaribagh. The new liquor policy of Jharkhand government is becoming a serious crisis in Hazaribagh district. As soon as the policy was implemented, the financial pressure on liquor traders has increased to such an extent that many shopkeepers have now started preparations to surrender their shops.
The situation in the district has become so worrying that about 40 percent of the liquor shops are continuously incurring losses and have reached the verge of closure. This is not only having a direct impact on the livelihood of businessmen, but alarm bells have also started ringing regarding the revenue of the state government. At present, 67 liquor shops are operating in Hazaribagh district, which have been removed from government control under the new policy and handed over to private hands. Along with privatization, the government has increased the license fees, taxes and fixed revenue targets by about 30 percent.
Shopkeepers say that the sales situation in the market is not the same as before, while the burden of taxes and liabilities is continuously increasing. In such a situation, far from earning profit, it is becoming difficult to meet the expenses of the shop. The situation is such that the liquor shops operating in the busiest commercial areas of the city like Jhanda Chowk and Bus Stand have also started incurring losses. According to shopkeepers, low sales, high license fee, GST, additional taxes and fixed revenue targets have made the liquor business a complete loss-making deal.
Many shopkeepers said that if the target is not met every month, they have to face fines and pressure, due to which the situation is worsening. Pointing out the shortcomings of the new liquor policy, the shopkeepers said that the government has also handed over shops in bad and less customer-oriented locations to private hands, where sales are naturally limited.
Despite this, uniform tax and revenue target has been imposed on all the shops, which is not practical. Traders believe that if the policy is not changed as per local conditions, the losses will increase further. Shopkeepers and their organizations have demanded from the government an immediate review of the new liquor policy, relief in tax rates and realistic revision in the revenue target. He says that if the current situation continues, there may be a possibility of more shops surrendering in the coming days.
On one hand, this will affect the livelihood of hundreds of people, on the other hand, the revenue of the state government can also be badly affected. Now it remains to be seen what concrete steps the government takes by taking this growing crisis seriously.