Liquor to flow till midnight...
Sandesh Prabhudesai
20 March 2002
The Bharatiya Janata Party government here
has now further relaxed timing of liquor bars till 11.30
pm, while also permitting to keep the restaurants open till
12 midnight.
The issue came up for reconsideration as the
local excise authorities were forcibly shutting down all
the bar and restaurants by 11 pm, no matter whether they
served liquor beyond the prescribed timing or not.
Till date, Goa had officially banned serving
of liquor beyond 11 pm. This had led to either officially
closing down the liquor outlets or allowing it unofficially
for a consideration, thanks to the corrupt excise officials.
Since the hotel owners were losing on it either
way while the tourism season was slack this year due to
recession and post-11 September crisis, a plea was made
to relax the timing further. As most of the restaurants
here also have bars, the compulsory closure at 11 pm had
affected the industry severely.
"The new relaxation will be a little
respite for us at least for the next two months", said
Prakash Naik, president of the Goa Hotel and Restaurant
Owners' Association, while making the announcement in this
regard.
"I have no objection if the customer
sits with a glass even beyond 11.30 pm, but no bar - serving
the liquor - should be kept open beyond prescribed hours",
quipped chief minister Manohar Parrikar. He has assured
to brief the excise officials accordingly.
The relaxed rules may not benefit the tourism
industry in a big way since the prime season is almost over.
But with the Assembly election fever gripping the tourist
state, it will definitely benefit those large number of
politicians who exploit 'liquor power', besides money and
muscle power, to woo the young workers and voters.
