Thiruvananthapuram, March 16 (IANS): Former Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Monday wrote to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan that in the wake of the coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak, steps should be taken to shut down all the state-owned liquor retail outlets with immediate effect.

In Kerala, 21 positive Covid-19 cases have been reported so far and over 10,000 people are under observation in homes and hospitals across the state.

Liquor and beer in Kerala is sold only through state-owned retail outlets, most of which witness large queues.

While people are advised to stay away from crowded places, the state government had said last week that it didn't intend to close down liquor outlets.

For fund starved Kerala, the revenue earned from the sale of liquor and beer is one of the biggest sources of income, recording a turnover of Rs 14,504.67 crore in the last fiscal.

When Chandy was the Chief Minister in 2016, he had closed down about 700 bars to set the ball rolling for declaring prohibition by 2023.

But after Vijayan took over in the same year, most of the bars that Chandy had closed have been opened.

Chandy also urged Vijayan to take up the issue with banks to ensure that there is a moratorium on all agricultural loans in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak.

He also said that arrears for social security pensions should be cleared immediately.