: The United Democratic Front (UDF) on Wednesday decided to amend its liquor policy to prevent hotel owners with three-star and four-star classifications from taking advantage of the existing provision restricting bar licences only to five-star hotels by upgrading their establishments to five-star category.
The UDF high-power committee, which met here, decided to plug the loop holes in the context of the recent controversy over issuing bar licence to certain hotels that had upgraded their facilities to earn five-star classifications. With its much-touted liquor policy facing a run on its credibility, the UDF leadership, which has over the last few days made valiant efforts to justify the new bar licences, thought it prudent to go in for an amendment to plug the loop holes and controversies too. Addressing a press conference soon after the UDF meeting, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said that his government would not issue bar licence to five-star hotels during the remaining two months of his government’s terms.
Stringent controls
More stringent controls would be implemented for bar licence even if the Central government were to issue five-star classification to newly constructed hotels in its capacity as the competent authority for this.
The restrictions would be imposed after considering various allied issues, including the impact on the tourism sector, Mr. Chandy said.
“The existing UDF government’s liquor policy allows issuing bar licence for five-star hotels.
But there is cause for suspicion that this would be misused. In any case, there was no question of retracting from our stand,” he said.
Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president V.M. Sudheeran said the UDF had clarity in its liquor policy. The LDF lacked clarity on this score. The CPI(M) State leadership did not give any value to the position of its general secretary, he said at the meeting.
The bar licence issue set the mood for discussions in the UDF meeting, with several leaders criticising the decision on six bars with five-star classifications.
Such a move should not have been made when the entire State was midway in its election process. The Chief Minister, while offering explanation for the decision, said that the new set of bar licences had been issued in 2015. Finally, the government issued licences only to two bars and that too on the basis of the Supreme Court verdict, he told the meeting.
