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| 'Step towards facilitating entry of wine mafia into Jammu, won't allow it' | | Gaurav Chopra opposes new Excise policy | |  Early Times Report
JAMMU, Mar 18: Gaurav Chopra, Corporator of Jammu and Municipal Corporation on Thursday opposed the proposed new Excise policy for Jammu and Kashmir.
Addressing a news conference here Chopra said, "We won't allow outsiders to enter into Jammu and turn the city of temples into a wine hub. We oppose the new policy tooth and nail and won't allow the administration to implement it."
He said, "It's a step towards facilitating the entry of wine mafia into Jammu and we won't allow it. If this new policy is implemented it will render nearly 30,000 people associated with this trade jobless."
Chopra said, "People of Jammu won't be able to compete with bidders from other places if the new liquor policy is implemented."
He said, "Since the day J&K's statehood has been snatched new rules and laws are being implemented just to harass the people. We want our statehood back."
It may be recalled that earlier this week Bajrang Dal activists had staged a protest in Jammu against J&K's government's decision to grant liquor licenses to new wine shops in the region.
Protesters said that they won't allow Jammu to become a "sharab-ka-adda (wine hub)" and would oppose the opening of new wine shops tooth and nail. "If the government can take care of sentiments of people in Kashmir, why can't it take care of the sentiments of Jammu people?" protesters had asked.
"In Kashmir 83 wine shops were to be set up but due to the opposition of people the proposal was put in a cold storage. Despite people of Jammu opposing the move to open new wine shops, the government seems least bothered and is hell bent upon giving new licenses," protesters said.
Last week the Jammu and Kashmir administration released the draft of new Excise Policy for financial year 2021-22 which envisages allotment of liquor shops to the residents of the Union Territory through e-auction. However, Jammu Wine Traders Association (JWTA) had picked up holes in the new Excise Policy asking if the policy was really revolutionary then why the same was not implemented in Union Territory of Ladakh and other states. The association has termed new policy as "arbitrary."
The JWTA had appealed to the government to let the old system continue as the new policy if implemented could lead to chaos and confusion in the region.
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