Hoshangabad: Locals in this Madhya Pradesh district are getting marked with ink on their finger. While the practice is commonplace during elections, here, it's for a different reason altogether.
Liquor shops in the district have started putting a mark of indelible ink on the finger of those reaching shops to buy liquor amid the coronavirus lockdown.
The state government reached an agreement after deliberation with liquor traders, after which alcohol shops were opened.
The liquor traders had not been eager to open the shops due to fears of getting infected with Covid-19, and a high license fee.
Thus, traders in Hoshanagabad came up with a unique solution. In the district which is around 80 km away from Bhopal, alcohol shops have started noting down the names of buyers and are also putting an ink mark on their finger.
One of the liquor traders said that the ink mark will ensure that one person does not visit the shop again on the same day; preventing unnecessary crowding.
These shops have opened after 1.5 months, witnessing huge crowds since Wednesday.
Excise office Abhishek Tiwari said that the ink mark is put on the fingers of buyers at liquor shops and their name, addresses are noted down so that contact history can be traced in the case of coronavirus infection.
The state government is also planning to levy additional cess of around Rs 5 VAT to raise additional revenue from liquor sale amid cash crunch.
Sources said that the state government’s revenue collection has plummeted by around 25% of the original collection due to coronavirus lockdown.
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