Chennai: Major political parties in Tamil Nadu on Sunday welcomed the move to close down 500 Tasmac shops, but wanted the state government to come out with a “detailed liquor policy” outlining the timeline of implementation of total prohibition.
The main Opposition party DMK wondered whether the government was just closing down Tasmac shops without being serious about reducing the revenue of the state-run outlets, which it says is the only way towards achieving prohibition.
It also asked the government to come out with a blueprint on implementation of its major poll promise.
“We would like to know whether these are the shops that were located near schools and temples. Mere shutting down of shops will not make any difference. The government which shuts the shops on one hand is exploring options to increase revenue on the other hand,” DMK party spokesman T.K.S. Elangovan said. “The step that the government should take towards achieving prohibition is to find ways to reduce revenue. Unless and until that happens, there would be no change,” he added.
Welcoming the move, Congress leader Peter Alphonse said whether closing down of these shops would have any impact would be known only after the details of sale of the month of June comes out.
“The government reduced the timing of opening of the shops by two hours last month, but figures do not seem to be encouraging. The sales figures are almost the same,” he said.
Calling it a “healthy decision”, BJP state chief, Tamilisai Soundararajan said Tamil Nadu should continue with its drive of closing down the liquor shops till the last one in the state is shut down.
PWA constituents – VCK and TMC – wanted the state government to come out with a detailed blueprint on how prohibition will be implemented in the state by specifying a time frame.
“When compared to nearly 7,000 Tasmac shops across the state, 500 is a very small number. But the stand of VCK remains that the Tamil Nadu government should come out with a clear timeline of how things will be implemented,” he said.
Echoing his views, Tamil Maanila Congress president G.K. Vasan demanded that the Tamil Nadu government come out with a timetable for closing down of Tasmac shops. Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa had, during her election campaign, promised staggered prohibition in the state if her party was voted back to power.
