Bar policy to stay: Oomen Chandy

MALAPPURAM: Chief Minister Oomen Chandy said that liquor policy of the government can be reviewed but there would be no stepping back from the current policy. “Policies of the government can be reviewed and subjected to change according as time demands. In the case of bar policy there can be forward-looking revisions but there will be no going back from the current policy,” he said during a meet the press programme conducted by the Malappuram Press Club on Tuesday.

“There is no room for confusion in UDF’s bar policy. This has accepted well by the society. The government is looking forward to bring down the liquor consumption in phases. An immediate ban is not at all possible and that may lead to other social issues like we have seen in Bihar,” He said.

He also made it clear that there is nothing wrong in the approval given to new Five Star bars in the state as it was in accordance with the current bar policy. Chief Minister has also refuted the bar policy of the LDF alleging that they were confusing people without a strong stand on the matter.