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Since tourists generally like to have a glass or two of wine at any time of the day or night, it might be a good idea to extend the license for only wine and beer during the extended hours. This will also help marginalize the problems due to senseless drinking of liquor. At any rate, tourists expect wine to be a natural part of any city’s lifestyle, and the consumption is expected to rise with the decision. More importantly, the decision at this stage is to extend the opening hours and not the excise license with obvious ramifications wherein the wine or beer etc can be ordered and served before 1 am but can be consumed till the closing hours.
The decision is not expected to take shape soon, if at all it is implemented. The minister had reacted to a stated request while talking to the NRAI (National Restaurant Association of India) and has asked them to submit a written request. This statement following soon after the proposed reduction of legal age in Delhi, however, augurs well for the government as well as the city. It allays fears among the public that the new government of AAP is anti –alcohol and anti-people unless they are poor and downtrodden.
The stand would also put some pressure on the Delhi Police to either shape up or face more heat from the State Government to demand that it be brought under their control as they are allegedly shirking their responsibility. It is noteworthy that during the recently relaxed rule of allowing wine and beer to be served with food in Nehru Park, there were several issues of traffic chaos but none relating to people misbehaving. Wine and food and such events can be a great draw for tourists who are enamoured with Indian cuisine and street food.
As a part of improving Tourism in Delhi, the night bazaar in Chandni Chowk is also likely to be revived, says the minister, according to the report in TOI. " I believe that extending operating hours will not just benefit the industry but is also essential in the city with several people getting free from work at late hours," said Mishra. He has a valid point when he says, "It will also secure the streets which, right now, are completely desolate at night. We will look into the viability of this recommendation and see how it can be implemented."
The proposal by NRAI is to extend operating hours of restaurants from 1 am to 2.30 am on weekends on a trial basis for the first three months.
Just like several other anomalies in the system, the excise and opening timings are not co-ordinated. "The excise license allows us to serve alcohol till 1am while the police license also allows us to remain open only till 1am. It means that at 1am, the restaurant should be locked with no staff inside. Because of this we are forced to start winding up much sooner," said Prakul Kumar, secretary general of NRAI. "We have suggested that at least on weekends, we can experiment with this. The agencies concerned can monitor the situation, including law and order, during this time and then make it more permanent."
However Mishra added, ‘When we say night life, people think clubs and pubs. However, we would also like to encourage the traditional aspect of Old Delhi. We will take a decision on this issue shortly.’
As expected, BJP has already announced that they will never allow lowering of drinking age and promotion of night life in Delhi as they fear it would mean freedom to criminals. Ironically, many of the BJP leaders are known to love their tipple and it is public knowledge whereas the minister Mishra has declared in public that he is a teetotaler and that his remarks may be personal but he shares the views of the restaurateurs to improve the tourism in Delhi.
One of the few positives in the recent times, the statements indicate that the government is serious about modernizing the city to make it international class because the statements made by the minister surely have the tacit approval of the Chief Minister, Mr. Arvind Kejriwal.
We are inching forward towards ‘acche din’-hopefully.
Subhash Arora |