Kerala to say 'cheers' as CM Pinarayi Vijayan considers opening pubs in state

The Kerala government headed by the Left Democratic Front (LDF) is planning on further easing up its policy over alcohol usage as the state Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has considered of opening pubs in gods own country.

In his weekly television show named 'Naam Munoottu', CM Vijayan on November 11 said that the government would consider opening pubs in Kerala, as there are complaints that people working in the state, especially in IT and other professionals barely have any means of entertainment after long working hours.

The chief minister said that the lack of pubs in the state has drawn criticism for the government and is seriously being reviewed. He said that government-run retail liquor outlets under Kerala State Beverages (Manufacturing & Marketing) Corporation Ltd (BEVCO) will also get better facilities for the ease of consumers. The government is also planning on setting up more liquor supermarkets in the state so that people can avoid the long queues in front of the outlets.

Alcohol ban in Kerala

The previous government headed by Congress had come up with a partial liquor prohibition policy under which only five-star hotels were permitted to sell hard liquor. Over 600 bars were closed in the state after the partial ban on alcohol from 2014-2017 and most of them were converted to beer and wine parlours.

The government led by Pinaryi Vijayan had reversed the alcohol prohibition policy after coming into power in 2016, allowing three-star hotels and above to serve hard liquor.

According to the reports, several employees of an IT park has been demanding recreational facilities such as pubs inside the campus to have a relaxed time after a long day of hectic work. The employees had submitted their demand to the previous government headed by Oommen Chandy as well as the current government but no decision was taken over this, until now.