Chennai: In the first step towards bringing in prohibition, the Tamil Nadu Government on Sunday closed 500 Tasmac shops across the state in line with an announcement made by Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa immediately after she assumed office on May 23.
The 500 shops spread across the state — 58 in Chennai region — were shut since Sunday morning after the Tamil Nadu Government, in a late announcement on Saturday night, said these shops would cease functioning.
As many as 201 outlets in the Madurai region lead the shutdown process, followed by 133 in the Tiruchy region, 60 in Coimbatore, 58 in Chennai and 48 in Salem region.
The AIADMK had promised staggered prohibition in its election manifesto and the government reduced the working hours of the state-run liquor shops by two hours from May 24, 2016. Shutting down 500 shops would result in a revenue loss of nearly Rs 5 crore every day. Already, the state is losing Rs 1 crore every day due to reduction in time of opening of Tasmac shops across the state.
Closing of these shops is part of the Tamil Nadu Government’s liquor policy, government sources said, adding that those employed in the shops that have been shut down would be rehabilitated in other Tasmac shops in the same district.
