A 10% discount on country liquor has been announced by the authorities in a Madhya Pradesh town for those who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The decision was made to boost the ongoing vaccination drive, according to the Mandsaur district excise department. 

Anil Sachan, the district excise officer in Mandsaur, said anyone who can show proof (in the form of a certificate) of having received both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine will receive a 10% discount. Liquor stores in Sitamau Phatak, Bhuniakhedi, and Old Bus Stand will offer the discount.

Also Read | All About Alcohol: India’s first liquor museum opens in Goa

“Also, special care will be taken to ensure that there is no misuse in the said work,” he added.  Sachan said that if the experiment is successful, it will be implemented in other parts of the district. 

However, an MLA from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) criticised the move, claiming that it would encourage people to drink alcohol.

“This is not a decision taken by the state government, and it will encourage people to consume liquor,” BJP MLA from Mandsaur Yashpal Singh Sisodiya said on Twitter in Hindi.

Also Read | Zeroing in on resurgence of COVID-19 in Europe

RP Kirar, the district excise officer in Khandwa district, had ordered liquor shops to ask customers to verbally self-attest to having received vaccination before serving them earlier this month. 

Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, had previously expressed concern about people failing to show up for the second dose of COVID-19 vaccine. 

Following suit, the state government will hold a massive vaccination campaign on Wednesday to reach out to a larger number of people. It has set a deadline of December-end for all eligible people to be vaccinated.

Also Read | India reports 7,579 new COVID cases and 236 deaths in last 24 hours

As of November 23, the state had administered a total of 8,12,79,730 anti-coronavirus vaccine doses. 

In addition, the central government announced on Tuesday that the total number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in India has surpassed 1.17 billion.