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| Salesmen of liquor shops hold protest, call on Dy Excise Commissioner | | ‘Draft Excise Policy will render us jobeless’ | |  EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Mar 19: A delegation of salesmen of various liquor shops of Jammu today met the Excise Commissioner to apprise him of their reservations about the Draft Excise Policy 2021-22, which aims to grant licenses through e-auction by replacing the time-tested mechanism prevailing as of now.
The delegation also staged a protest outside the Commissioner’s office demanding reconsideration of the policy. The salesmen apprehend that if the draft policy is effectuated, it will render them jobless. They say that such a step, especially at this point of time when they are coming out of financial distress caused by COVID, will prove to be a serious calamity for them caused by their own government.
Speaking to media persons, Romesh Verma, a salesman said “We salesmen, most of whom are graduates, have sacrificed the days of our youth for this trade. We work continuously for 12 hours each day, which is humanly impossible, and that too for very meager money and without any days off, except a few dry days. The government has deceived us.”
“We won’t be able to find jobs anywhere else, as there is already a dearth of new jobs in the market. We won’t be able to feed our children, let alone paying their educational expenses. The salesmen who are having financial liabilities on them would be worst affected, as this would put them in a debt trap and deal a severe blow on their livelihoods,” he added.
He said that auctioning of vends takes away the idea of giving opportunities to unprivileged sections of the society on the basis of their economic conditions. “The government should provide a level playing field for all regardless of their financial conditions. Such a provision should be made wherein common masses at the lowest strata, including the salesmen could become licensees. Implementing the new policy would prove detrimental for people like us who do not have deep pockets and would benefit well-off people only. If the department is trying to imitate other states and UTs by auctioning the liquor vends, it should also study their fault-lines and learn from their mistakes,” said Romesh Verma.
Another protesting salesman Khem Raj said “The government is trying to bite the hands that feed its exchequer. I suspect that e-auctioning will give birth to nexus and lead to a culture of ‘proxy licenses’, wherein affluent people from neighbouring states will acquire licenses in the names of UT natives, as happened in Geology and Mining Department’s auctioning, which has drastically resulted into exclusion of the local people.”
Narinder Sharma, another salesman requested the government not to implement “such a policy which can take away the livelihood of the salesmen and if such a thing happens, it will have grave consequences in near future as the government authorities must be aware of what extent people can go to when in destitution and economic distress. Our children were rendered jobless due to COVID and now the government is trying to cut our limbs off.”
The delegation, led by Romesh Verma, Som Nath, Khem Raj and Narinder Sharma met the Deputy Excise Commissioner Amarjit as Commissioner was not available in the office, and apprised him of their demands. The DEC gave them a patient hearing and assured that their matter will be discussed with the higher authorities. |
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