Hyderabad: While the Maharashtra government is planning to bring in an Act banning naming of liquor shops after gods and goddesses, there is no such proposal to bring in a similar Act in Telangana. As of now, it is only an ‘advisory’. Out of the 2,300 liquor shops and 900 bars in the state, 45 per cent are named after Hindu gods/goddesses.
According to officials, most of the bars in the state have names of Shirdi Saibaba, Venkateshwara, Mallikarjuna, Bhavani, Laxmi, Durga, Sri Rama, or Sri Krishna. There were attempts to ban the use of names of gods/ goddesses in 2012 and 2015 but these were opposed by the owners of liquor shops and bars. Following this, the excise department has issued an 'advisory' asking owners not to use the names of gods/ goddesses.
The owners argued that like any other businesses, sale of liquor is also a business and they set up shops and bars on the name of gods/goddesses only to seek their blessings and with a hope that they would earn good profits. “What’s wrong in naming our shops/ bars after gods/goddesses? We are not doing any illegal business.
