Certificate of private doctor not to be valid any more, nod of area medical board made must
There is bad news for those who like to have a drink or two ‘legally’ in dry Gujarat, as the state government on Wednesday announced swe-eping changes in the process for obtaining a liquor permit on health grounds, making it both tougher as well as expensive.
So far, applicants were required to submit a certificate issued by a private medical practitioner while applying for a health permit. From now on, certificate of a private practitioner would not be accepted.
Similarly, the permits were issued based on the opinion of a superintendent-level officer in the Area Medical Board. To get the permit now, the recommendation of all three members of the boards would be required.
The changes were announced in the state assembly by minister of state for home Pradipsinh Jadeja under Rule 44 of the Gujarat Assembly.
“Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has taken tough measures for strict implementation of prohibition policy. The prohibition laws were made harsher by amending the Act last year, which have yielded good results. Now, new rules have been framed for health permits. The government aims to curb a number of permit holders through these changes,” Jadeja said in the House.
Gujarat is a dry state, but it allows sale of liquor to permit holders through permit shops which numbered 58 as of March. The number of permit holders is around 70,000, of which health permit holders number close to 60%.
The minister said the new rules would apply to existing permit holders at the time of renewal, as well as to new applicants. At present, 26 Area Medical Boards to issue health permits are operational. The number of the Boards has been reduced to six, and these would be operational in Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot, Gandhinagar and Bhavnagar. The Boards would cater to applicants from the districts in their zones.
The three-member Boards would comprise the regional deputy director, medical superintendent, and full-time HOD of Medicine of the local government medical college.
“Recommendation of all three will be compulsory to apply for health permit,” the minister announced. The state government abolished the permit form fee of Rs50, and instead levied a permit process fee of Rs2,000, while hiking the medical examination fee from Rs500 to Rs2,000.
The government also reconstituted the State Medical Board, which would include additional director of health services, Dean of Gandhinagar Medical College, HOD (Medicine) of BJ Medical College, and deputy director of prohibition and excise department. The fee for filing an appeal with the Board has been fixed at Rs5,000, it added.
The old rule
- Applicants had to submit certificate issued by a pvt medical practitioner while applying for a health permit
- Permits were issued based on the opinion of a superintendent-level officer in the Area Medical Board
The New Rule
- Certificate of a pvt practitioner would not be accepted
- Recommendation of all three members of the boards would be required
70,000 approximately is the number of permit holders
58 shops have the government permit to sell liquor as of March 2018
26 Area Medical Boards used to issue health permits
3-member Boards would comprise the regional deputy director, medical superintendent, and full-time HOD of Medicine of the local government medical college
6 boards will operate from Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot, Gandhinagar and Bhavnagar
60% people approximately were health permit holders
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