Thackeray suggested allowing the liquor business to function as the business almost amounts Rs. 41.66 crores daily in the form of tax revenue.
Mumbai| Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) Chief Raj Thackeray has written to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on opening the economy of the state. In his letter, Raj Thackeray has asked the Chief Minister to allow small restaurants and food vendors who provide food at cheap prices so that maximum people can get food to eat during the lockdown. Shedding a light on lack of funds in the state’s treasury, Thackeray also suggested allowing liquor business to function as the business almost amounts Rs. 41.66 crores daily in the form of tax revenue.
“Many small hotels, Poli-Bhaaji Centres are there, where you can get a ‘rice plate’ at an affordable price. It is necessary to make the kitchens of these hotels functional. There can be many people who don’t have a person to cook food in their houses or have run out of the grocery. Governemnt should think about these people. You can allow parcel services from these hotels so that social distancing is maintained. It is solely the proprietors’ responsibility to maintain cleanliness at the hotel. This can kickstart our dead economy by some margin,” Thackeray wrote.
Deliberating on the issue of lack of funds in the state’s treasury and lack of foresight on when will the lockdown be lifted, Thackeray suggested that state government should allow wine shops to function.
“When I’m telling you to open up liquor shops, it’s not because I want you to consider the plight drinkers. It’s purely for the tax revenue for the state’s treasure which has shrunk to almost nothing. The petrol pumps are shut, the dealing of lands and immovable properties have stopped,” Raj further added.
He also highlighted that the liquor business provides Rs. 41.66 crore tax revenue on a daily basis to the state government. Raj said, “We’ve shut almost everything for the last 35 days and we don’t know how long it will take from here. We can think of the tax revenue we’ve lost during this time and will lose in the future.”
“Governemnt is finding it difficult to provide PPE kits to doctors, nurses, police. To provide food, it’s struggling to make the ends meet by managing funds from here and there. In this quest, the treasury has shrunk. It’s looking difficult to even pay salaries to government officials. Thus, I think that the revenue liquor business provides is considerably big and the state needs it now more than ever,” Thackeray said.
He also suggested that vegetable vendors, fruit sellers, milk, and products shops should be allowed to function from now on. They are functional in some places, he said, but there’s “lack of co-ordination”.
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