Chief minister Hemant Soren directed the department of excise and prohibition to keep a certain percentage of liquor shops reserved for SC/ST businessmen interested in running wine shops in Jharkhand.

Hemant, who was chairing a review meeting, asked officials to make necessary amendments in laws related to issuing of liquor licences in order to provide members of the ST/SC community an opportunity to run liquor shops and facilitate the process by providing reservations.

“The department should provide liquor trade licences to those members of the ST/SC community who are interested in running such businesses. Necessary amendments in rules should also be made to incorporate reservation for the ST/SC community,” the chief minister said.

Sources from the chief minister’s office (CMO) said the decision was taken in a bid to encourage members of ST/SC communities to run liquor businesses and prosper, given that the liquor trade is among the most lucrative business ventures in the country.

Jharkhand, however, will not be the first state to provide a quota for the SC/ST community in liquor shops. The Karnataka government had come up with the idea of providing reservations to SC/ST businessmen in getting liquor trade licences in 2014. Besides, Jammu & Kashmir has also provided reservation to members of the SC/ST community of the state to get liquor licences.

During Thursday’s meeting, excise secretary Vinay Kumar Choubey informed Hemant that sale of liquor till November 2020 this year had generated a revenue of Rs 1,025 crore. The Covid-19-induced nationwide lockdown was responsible for major revenue loss this year as liquor shops remained closed from March 22 to May 19, he said.

To facilitate the sale of liquor made with Mahua, the department is planning to launch special shops on the lines of Odisha in a bid to provide an opportunity to Mahua traders, Choubey said. These stores will only sell country liquor manufactured and bottled in Jharkhand.

Hemant told officials to ensure that all liquor shops in the state displayed rate charts prominently in a bid to put a check on over-pricing. He asked officials to fill vacancies in the excise department at the earliest and employ home guards to compensate for the lack of excise constables in the state.