VIJAYAWADA: Despite the State government discouraging owners of wine shops and bars from naming their outlets after gods and goddesses, several outlets continue to sport monikers of deities.
Kanaka Durga Bar and Restaurant, Sri Venkateshwara Wines, Sri Sai Bar and Restaurants, Maruti wines are just some of the many liquor outlets coming up in Vijayawada city.
Following the guidelines of the Supreme Court that wine shops and bars should be located away from national and state highways, AP government has been taking its own time to issue licences to the outlets.
Though the Excise year began on July 1, it took about a fortnight for the government to issue licences to liquor shops as state highways were being denotified. As there was no restriction on names of wine shops and bar and restaurants at the time, enforcement authorities are unable to initiate action against outlets with “inappropriate” names now.
Bar owners seem in no hurry to order new signboards questioning why the government was least offended while issuing their shops licences just a few weeks back.
The state government’s direction came in the wake of a slew of complaints from people offended by names of deities being displayed on signboards of liquor outlets. It issued a directive to the owners of the shops asking them to “respect the sentiments of the people” and warned of action if they fail to adhere to the instruction.
Vijayawada Excise Superintendent G Muralidhar said once the government issues orders, it had to be obeyed. “They may have obtained trade licence on the name of their choice, but now that the government has issued orders, they must fall in line.”