CHENNAI: Of the 717 Tasmac outlets across the state ordered to be shut by the chief minister by May 26, 436 have been closed down so far. Officials have been directed to expedite the closure of the remaining 281 outlets soon, said Minister for Prohibition and Excise K Vignesh on Saturday.
According to an official release, Minister Vignesh chaired a meeting to review the progress in implementation of the CM’s order on the closure of Tasmac outlets located near educational institutions, places of worship and public spaces like bus stands.
“Till Saturday, 436 retail Tasmac outlets and the bars attached to them have been closed down. The chief minister also directed that the staff at these outlets should be redeployed to nearby ones. All retail outlets and the bars attached to them must be closed by 10 pm, and appropriate action should be taken against sales staff found selling liquor above the maximum retail price,” the minister told officials during the meeting.
Of the 717 Tasmac shops CM C Joseph Vijay on May 12 ordered to be closed down within two weeks, 276 were located near places of worship, 186 were found to be near educational institutions and 255 near bus stands.
The minister also held a separate review meeting at the Commissionerate of Prohibition and Excise in which he instructed district-level officials to conduct field inspections to ensure that FL2 recreation clubs function strictly in accordance with the rules. He also directed field staff to maintain intensive surveillance to completely prevent the brewing, smuggling and sale of illicit liquor in the state.
‘Tasmac will be restructured’
Meanwhile, Minister Vignesh said the Tasmac administration will be completely restructured to eliminate corruption and unauthorised charges,
“The Tasmac administration is riddled with corruption. Revenue meant for government has been diverted to individuals,” the minister told reporters at Coimbatore airport. He said the practice of charging `10 extra per bottle was introduced to facilitate scam. “Tasmac employees got used to covering rent and electricity costs from that extra `10. We will completely eliminate that practice,” he said.