CM: No licence for liquor shop in 1 km of school, college, temple

Kolkata: No licence will be issued for liquor shops within one kilometre of schools, colleges and temples in Bengal. "We have said there cannot be a liquor shop within a one-km radius of schools, colleges and temples. No licence can be given if shops fall within that area. This govt will be run in a different way," chief minister Suvendu Adhikari said in an administrative meeting on Tuesday.Officials indicated reflecting industry hopes that this would not affect existing business. "We think a circular will be issued soon. As far as we know, it would be for new licensing. It would also be applicable to pending proposals," an excise official added.Sources said a series of meetings between finance and excise officials was held on the issue at Nabanna on Tuesday. The excise commissioner, too, attended the meeting. An official said that existing law mandates that liquor shops (both off shops and bars) cannot be set up within 305 metre or 1,000 feet of schools, colleges, temples, mosques, churches and other religious establishments. Earlier, the rule was 100 metre. There are around 6,000 liquor shops and bars in the state. Sources indicated that around 3,500 existing liquor shops (both bars and off shops) fall within 700-800 metre of schools, colleges, temples and other religious establishments. "Before the 305-metre rule was introduced, there were at least 300-350 shops which were within 100 metres of these listed entities. But as they had got licences according to rules prevailing earlier, most of them are still in operation," a source said.Incidentally, most of the liquor shops within 700-800 metre of schools, colleges or temples are in Kolkata. The current state excise revenue is Rs 22,000 crore, and the total liquor industry in the state is worth Rs 32,000 crore.