PORVORIM
Anxiety prevails among thousands of applicants seeking renewal of liquor licences in North Goa before the March 31 deadline, as over 3,000 application forms are pending clearance from the office of the Superintendent of Police (North) for Police Clearance Certificates (PCC).
As per the new rules formulated by the Excise Department, every liquor license holder is required to get PCC from their respective police stations. To obtain a PCC, the liquor license holder is required to submit three photographs and two copies of each of Aadhar card, election card and old liquor license.
The respective police stations then flashes messages to all the police stations in Goa to find out whether any criminal case is pending against the license holder.
Thereafter, PCC application forms are sent for signatures of police inspectors, Deputy Superintendent of Police of each area and finally to the Superintendent of Police at Porvorim.
Once these formalities are completed, police clearance certificates are issued to the liquor license holders by the office of Superintendent of Police, Porvorim.
According to police sources at Porvorim, in all 14 police stations come under the jurisdiction of North Goa Superintendent of Police and over 3,000 PCC application forms have been received from different police stations in North Goa.
According to a police source, there are only two clerical staff, who look after the PCC work in the office of Police Superintendent at Porvorim and they have been given one computer.
The staff is overloaded with work and half of their time is wasted in answering the calls received from the police stations in North Goa and liquor license holders,” the police source added.
A liquor license holder from Panaji, who had to go to Porvorim police station to inquire about the PCC, told The Goan that he had submitted his application form to Panaji police station on February 28 and was told that he would get the certificate within 8 to 10 days. “It is over 15 days now and I have still not received the certificate,” he complained.
Another lady liquor license holder from Calangute said she submitted the PCC application form to Calangute police station on March 3 and was told that she would get the certificate within 8 days.
“Since I didn’t receive the certificate, I went to Porvorim police station to
inquire about it. The government instead of simplifying the procedure has made it more complicated and time consuming. This is nothing but harassment for liquor traders,” she said.
