- The often-mentioned adage like necessity is the mother of all inventions stands to gain strength whenever humanity encounters challenges of diverse nature. Any number of inventions, innovations, developments, and surprisingly novelty factors have come to the aid of humanity at most inopportune times to sail through with lesser harm to contend with. The resilience shown by human beings over millenniums has defined our characteristic trait to fight against all odds to emerge unscathed. Survival of the fittest aptly defines us who are pretty good at inventing ways and means to stay afloat. All modern-day inventions have come at a critical time of our existence facilitating more easier living standards making it even more comfortable as we progressed.
PC: Albert Einstein
- Of course, the pandemic has made us realize how a carefully constructed world of luxury, complacency, ambitions, aspirations, positions, arrogance, and extremely haughty dispositions will be eliminated in a matter of days. In doing so, the pandemic also paved way for exploring other hitherto untouched territories to ensure our living standards are sustained and flourish. One of the few economic activities that not only stayed alive even in the face of brutal challenges wrought by the pandemic but also carved out a special niche to emerge as much sought-after medium of survival is e-commerce platforms. When every other economic activity was forced to shut shop owing to avoidance of large gatherings, e-commerce indeed took off spectacularly.
- As experienced, essential commodities like provisions, vegetables, milk, and fruits could be delivered unhindered by using mobile applications meant for the purpose turned out to be a boon for the urban and semi-urban dwellers during touch times. And the second wave in the country has further thrown open opportunities for the platforms to be explored even deeper. The latest to emerge from the staple of e-commerce is the home delivery of liquor which is slowly but steadily gaining traction all around. Delhi following in the footsteps of Maharashtra, Bengal, and Odisha is allowing home delivery of liquor intending to shore up state finances. This mode of delivery conveniently circumvents the stringent restrictions imposed owing to lockdowns facilitating consumer is not deprived of indulgences.
PC: Vikash Sharma
- For all the railing against alcohol politicians frequently do, most recognize that taxes on it give state exchequers a real high in the form of excise duty as the sale of alcohol accounts for around 10 to 15% revenue of most states. Precisely for this reason alone, few of the states allowed doorstep delivery of liquor when the national lockdown ended last year, albeit in different formats. For example, Kolkata allowed private online delivery platforms to take requests for alcohol orders, while Maharashtra allows retail shops in some areas to deliver locally. Makes imminent sense as opening liquor retails outlets during pandemic times will invite a huge crowd. The facility must continue and should be embraced by all states once the fear of covid fades eventually. An antiquated measure like retail selling of liquor should be replaced by home delivery to get some fizz.
