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| Jammu Wine Traders Association rejects new Excise Policy | | 'If it's revolutionary, why it has not been implemented in Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, UP' 'Other states switching from auction to license system but JK going turning the clock' | |  Early Times Report
jammu, Mar 10: Picking holes in the Draft Excise Policy for 2021-22, Jammu Wine Traders Association (JWTA) on Wednesday said that if the policy is really revolutionary then why the same is not implemented in Union Territory of Ladakh and other states. The association termed new policy as "arbitrary."
"The states like Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab beside others have switched back from auctioning of liquor shops to license system and have emulated the existing Excise Policy of Jammu and Kashmir, according to which licenses of liquor shops are given to individuals rather than open auctioning. It is beyond imagination, why the government is implementing such a policy in Jammu and Kashmir", JWTA President Charanjeet Singh told Early Times.
Giving the brief history of liquor licenses, he said that these licenses were first granted in 1958 under the Excise Act when this trade was considered as social taboo in the society and "we people were considered as exploited lot in the society".
"After that new licenses were granted in 1984 under new J&K Excise acts. Thereafter licenses were issued in 1998 and then n in 2005 in which licenses were renewed as per the J&K Excise Act."
Recalling the abandoning of auction system of JK Desi Whisky by Excise Department JWTA members said that following an All India level meeting of Excise Commissioners, the then JK government had decided to do away with the auction system of JK Desi Whisky and gave it to license holders for sale in their shops.
"In the case titled, State of J&K versus Vikas Jindal and others, dated 21/12/2004 , the then government had admitted before the double bench of High Court Jhangi and YP Nargotra that "auction promotes Mafia in liquor sale", JKWA members said, adding that the existing Excise policy didn't promote Mafia but the proposed polity would only promote Mafia culture and the super rich in the business while the people from middle class associated with the trade will be ejected from the system.
The JWTA president said that as per new policy, anyone who wanted to participate in the E-auction for liquor-vend, would have to provide an evaluation certificate of land to the tune of Rs. 50 Lakhs from Tehsildar. "The base price for each liquor shop is Rs. 5 Lakh and it will go up to any extent, while the vendor will have to submit advance tax. Moreover Minimum Guarantee Revenue (MGR to be submitted to government) and Minimum Guarantee Quota (MGQ to be taken every month by vendor) will be fixed for each vendor and if the vendor fails to maintain these quotas, the allotment will be cancelled", the JWTA members said, adding that such system would only help the super rich, while driving the middle class away from the system.
They further said that as per existing JK Excise policy, the license holders become ineligible for any government job and many license holders have left the government jobs to get licenses. "Once government will take away these licenses, where these people would go", Charanjeet Singh said, adding that 30,000 families are directly or indirectly involved in earning their livelihood from this busin "Some of our license holders are bed ridden or in such a medical condition that they can't earn their livelihood by doing any other work and this is their only source of income."
The association said the traders may lose their livelihood if not being able to compete in the e-auction process. The policy, which was for the first time placed in the public domain before its issuance, envisages allotment of liquor shops to the residents of the Union Territory through e-auction. Any person who is eligible for grant of license as per the provisions of the excise act and rules will be eligible for participation in the e-auction process.
"We reject this policy which is meant for rich persons alone. None of us can afford to compete in the e-auction as we are small traders who earn their livelihood from this business for decades," JWTA president Charanjeet Singh told reporters here.
As per the draft policy, the allotment of liquor vends through e-auction would be in a completely open and transparent manner in the same area where liquor shops already exist.
"The vends shall be allotted for a period of one year as per the provisions of the J&K Excise Act and Rules. The total number of shops to be allotted would be the same as existing at present and there would be no increase in the number of vends to be auctioned," it said, adding only a single outlet will be allotted to one person.
"The rich people can bid a huge amount of money, which is required to run this business as per new draft policy, thus snatching livelihood from small traders and creating a liquor mafia," Singh said.
Seeking the intervention of Union Minister Jitendra Singh and Lt Governor Manoj Sinha to address their concerns, the JWTA president said the government can issue new licenses in unserved and underserved areas while safeguarding their interests.
He said the liquor traders are working as revenue collecting agents of the government and fully abide by the rules and regulations. ".The existing policy is the best policy by which the government can earn as much as revenue it wants in the form of duties and taxes," he added.
"We started contributing Rs 2,500 monthly towards Social Responsibility Corpus fund after submitting a proposal to the then J&K government in 2015-16 and recommended the transfer of an amount of Rs 3 crore to J&K relief fund from it in March last year after realising the gravity of coronavirus pandemic," he said, adding they have also donated 13 ambulances and relief items over the years.
He said, "Show Cause notices were issued to 61 temporary vends by the government, who were in litigation with government since 2005 in High Court and Supreme Court, we were never party to it nor were issued any notice by the government or department."
He said, "We recently met BJP President Ravinder Raina, Ashok Koul, Yudhvir Sethi, Vikram Randhawa at BJP office Jammu and shared our grievances with them. They listened to us very patiently and agreed that our grievances are genuine and will take up the matter with the Lieutenant Governor." |
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