1,500 liquor shops shut across Andhra Pradesh as dealers begin strike

VIJAYAWADA: About 1,500 liquor shops and bars across the State remained closed as wine shop owners began their indefinite strike on Wednesday, demanding that the government increase their profit margin from the present 8 per cent to 18 per cent. The decision was taken following failure of talks between liquor dealers and Excise Minister KS Jawahar on Monday.

According to State Wine Merchants’ Association president Rayala Subba Rao, wine shop owners in  four districts - Anantapur, Nellore, East Godavari and Chittoor - observed strike by closing the shops voluntarily. The strike was partial in Kadapa, Prakasam, Guntur, Krishna and other northern districts.
Though it was believed that all 4,380 liquor shops and 800 bar & restaurants across the 13 districts will participate in the indefinite strike from Wednesday, for some reason, liquor traders did not join the strike in a few districts. Revenue of the Excise Department in four districts dropped significantly due to the strike. Business worth about Rs 13 crore was affected in East Godavari district due to the closure of around 500 liquor shops and bars. A similar  situation prevailed in the other three districts. With no sales, IML depots wore a deserted look.

At Kakinada, wine shop and bar owners staged a protest in front of the Excise superintendent’s office.  Wine shop owners in Chittoor, Nellore and Anantapur districts too staged demonstrations in front of the IML depots. All the 204 outlets in Tirupati remained closed.

Members of the State Wine Merchants’ Association said a communication was sent to all traders appealing to them to participate in the strike. “We expect all traders to participate in the strike from Thursday, the second day of the indefinite strike. We shall not call off the strike until the State government concedes our demands,”  president of the Association told.