CHENNAI: The State government on Wednesday night announced that all TASMAC shops and bars attached to them will remain closed on July 30 as a mark of respect for former President Abdul Kalam.
In a GO issued in this connection, Home Secretary Apurva Varma said the Commissioner of Prohibition and Excise/Managing Director, Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation Limited/Director General of Police/ADGP (Enforcement)/ADGP (Law and Order) and all district Collectors should take necessary action in this regard.
Earlier in the day, in a strange coincidence, both drinkers and anti-liquor activists urged the State government to declare July 30 as dry day as a mark of respect for Kalam.
The Tamil Nadu Liquor Consumers Awareness Association submitted separate petitions to Chief Minister’s Special Cell, Home Secretary and TASMAC general manager and Chennai City Police Commissioner, requesting them to close down all TASMAC shops on July 30, the day on which the funeral of the former President is scheduled to take place.
Meanwhile, Satta Panchayat Iyakkam, which has been demanding prohibition in the State, on Wednesday urged the State government to close down TASMAC shops on July 30. “It would not be sufficient to declare a public holiday. As a mark of respect for Kalam, the day should declared as dry day,” the SPI said. The Lok Satta party also demanded a dry day on July 30.
Gandhian Sasi Perumal submitted a petition in the CM’s Special Cell requesting the government to declare the seven-day mourning period till August 2 as dry period as a mark of respect for the departed soul. Later, when he attempted to stage a fast in front of the Secretariat, he was arrested.