Expert committees set up by some states to suggest the path to a rollback recommended that small shop owners and mechanics be allowed to function. Several state governments had been toying with the idea of allowing restricted sale of liquor in the second phase of the lockdown. Assam had, in fact, allowed the manufacture and sale of liquor from Monday but withdrew the order after Wednesday’s guidelines. The expert committee on strategy for easing lockdown restrictions in Kerala had suggested online sale of liquor by the Beverages Corporation. But the letter sent by the home secretary to chief secretaries of states and Union Territories, along with the consolidated revised guidelines, makes it clear that while states and Union Territories are free to impose stricter measures, they cannot dilute the central directive.

Source: The Telegraph April 15, 2020 22:52 UTC