In a gazette notification issued on June 21, the Under Secretary, Finance Pranab Bhat, added a note in the principal notification which states: 100 per cent additional licence fees shall be charged to the licences issued in relaxation of sub-rule (4) of rule 90 of The Goa Excise Duty Rules, 1964 and also for renewal of such licences. In simple terms, it means the government will now consider granting or renewing liquor licenses for premises situated within a radius of 100 metres from educational institutes or religious sites for which the fees are doubled. There is, however, no change in the licensing process.
There are multiple ways of looking at this decision. State Excise Commissioner Ankita Mishra says that the hike is not to promote the sale of liquor at religious places and near educational institutes. She says this would rather disincentivise retailers in these areas. Chief Minister Pramod Sawant mentions that the licensing terms have not changed since 1980, and successive governments have issued licences under the same rule. He adds that his government has only discouraged such licences by doubling fees.
The government may not be tinkering with the rule, but then, what is it trying to do by doubling fees to this restricted segment? What is it conveying? If the intention is to discourage such licences, the percentage hike in rupee value is insignificant and can’t be a convincing deterrent for a Goan or non-Goan setting up shop. If the government is serious about discouraging licences at religious places and near educational institutes, then there are better ways of going about it, doubling fees doesn't seem to be a sensible option.
On the flip side, at a time when Goa has become synonymous with alcohol and drugs, this notification suggests that the government is now open to the idea of liberalising the licensing process and easing the restrictions at a price. If one examines this decision from the revenue standpoint, one wonders why the government would attempt such a move when there are better options for tweaking collections in other areas of excise.
Fears emanate from this decision even if one looks at it from the lens of tourism, and one wonders if this move is linked to the concept of “spiritual tourism” that was floated some time back. There are fears that liquor vendors may inch closer to schools and vitiate an environment that institutes are already finding difficult to negotiate. Let’s not forget that there are growing influences of alcohol on some sections of the student community. We as a society have to be sensitive to the fact that schoolchildren are getting increasingly familiar with narcotics such as LSD.
If we may recall, in the monsoon session of the 2022 Legislative Assembly, the government came under tremendous fire from legislators across party lines for being lenient in handling cases of narcotics entering schools. “It is finishing our children”, Mormugao MLA Sankalp Amonkar had thundered. Others like Calangute MLA Michael Lobo had echoed similar sentiments.
The government of the day must sincerely shoot down these fears with smart policy decisions that leave no scope for ambiguity. The move of doubling up fees is not in alignment with discouraging bars in restricted areas.
