Kanpur tipplers must give personal info to buy liquor

Submit your pictures and personal details to buy booze. This is the instruction guzzlers in Kanpur district of Uttar Pradesh have to follow for the time being.

In view of the local bodies polls, the excise department has issued a ‘farmaan’ to retail shops directing them to keep a personal records (name, address, picture and mobile number) of those buying liquor from their shops.

The order was issued on the directions of Kanpur District Magistrate Surendra Singh, who is also returning officer for local bodies polls.  

But the diktat has not gone down well with buyers as well as sellers, with a buyer saying that the government may link his alcohol purchase with his Aadhaar.

“One buyer abused me and refused to furnish details to buy a bottle of whiskey. Another almost manhandled me when I tried to click his photograph from my mobile,” said Shakti Singh, an employee of a liquor shop at Kidwai Nagar.

“Our sales has become half since Friday,” rued another liquor shop owner. The district excise officer has also directed the shop owners to maintain a register and furnish details of who bought how much quantity liquor from their shops on daily basis.

“We close shops at 11 pm. Who would go to the department at that odd hours to submit the details on a daily basis,” said another liquor vendor.

“I had asked them to keep personal records of those who are buying two or more bottles of liquor or those buying in bulk to ensure that the voters are not wooed by offering them liquor by candidates,” clarified DM Surendra Singh.

However, for some ingenuous tipplers, the ‘farmaan’ is not a big hindrance. They are going to adjoining districts to buy their supplies. “I didn’t get my booze on Friday so I went Unnao and stocked two bottles,” said Amit Srivastava, an executive in a private company.

With business getting affected, some liquor shops are ready to flout the orders. “One shopkeeper refused to sell me a bottle, but another sold the bottle by charging a premium of Rs 5 without taking personal details,” said Santosh Kumar.

POLLS ON NOV 22

• Order was issued on the directions of Kanpur District Magistrate Surendra Singh
   
• In view of the local bodies polls, the excise department has issued the diktat to retailers
   
• Has not gone down well with shop owners