Ayurvedic shops oppose excise raids

Union says promises violated

The Excise Department is targeting small-scale retail outlets of Ayurvedic medicines to achieve monthly targets, the Ayurveda Medicine Manufacturers Organisation of has alleged. A statement from the AMMOI here said that the action of the Excise Department was in violation of the assurances given by the Chief Minister and the Excise Minister at a meeting with AMMOI representatives in August last year.

The statement said that about 380 units in the State were manufacturing Ayurvedic brews under licence from the Excise Department. These brews are sold through about 9,500 Ayurvedic medicine outlets in the State. “The brews are medicine, not liquor.”

Memorandum

But only about 1,000 of these outlets had obtained the mandatory Spirituous Preparations (7) licence from the Excise Department. The remaining outlets were unable to get the licence because of technical reasons, which rendered them vulnerable to excise raids, the statement said.

The Ayurveda sector had last year submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister citing this issue following which a meeting was called in August 2016. It was decided at the meeting that the name and address of the Ayurvedic outlets should be submitted to the AYUSH Department, following which it would be notified on gazette.

This process would enable all notified outlets to sell Ayurvedic brews without hassles.

It was also decided that until the notification was completed, the Excise Department should not carry out inspections and charge retail outlets with selling Ayurvedic brews without the Spirituous Preparations (7) licence.

The statement alleged that the Excise Department was constantly raiding the retail outlets and charging the operators with provisions of the Abkari Act for selling Ayurvedic brews. The organisation called for the intervention of Chief Minister “to stop the harassment.”