CHENNAI: Over 800 liquor stores in Chennai and its outskirts will reopen on Tuesday, despite the stiff resistance being put up by opposition parties. The stores were closed down on March 25, just a couple of weeks after the government hiked the excise duty on Indian Made Foreign Liquor by 15 per cent, as part of the lockdown to contain Covid-19. The stores will now be open between 10 am and 7 pm, as against 12 noon and 10 pm previously.
As the revised prices were not pasted on old liquor bottles, which have been stocked for the last three months, the government has directed employees to display the current prices of various prices outside the stores. The shops were all disinfected on Monday, ahead of the opening. Wooden barricades have been erected in front of the stores, and circles have been marked with a gap of six feet from each other, to maintain social distancing.
The Tasmac, which contributes Rs 30,000 crore annually to the State exchequer, has been facing severe losses since the onset of the pandemic. While the earnings per day for Tasmac stood at Rs 100 crore until February, before the onset of the pandemic, it has plunged by as much as 35 per cent since then, say sources, owing to the loss of livelihoods, lockdowns, and restrictions on sales.
“The government is hoping to compensate for the lost revenue once the stores open up,” says N Periyasamy, State president, TN TASMAC Employees Association. The State-owned corporation has 5,299 liquor shops across the State of which 640 are located in Chennai city police limit. This includes 31 elite shops which sell premium brands of foreign spirits, beer and wine in the city.
Periyasamy said that despite the health risks involved in the job, employees are willing to return to work as they were given Rs 9000 to Rs 11,000 contract payment during the lockdown period. The staff also want a Rs 50 lakh insurance cover, as it’s being offered to Covid health workers, to cover their health issues. “In addition to hand gloves, employees should be given temperature scanners and hand sanitisers,” says Periyasamy.
oppn condemns
The opposition parties on Monday condemned the State’s decision to reopen liquor shops in Chennai. DMK president MK Stalin, in a Facebook post said, it was a huge mistake to reopen now as it would lead to the spread of Covid-19. Congress state unit president KS Alagiri and AMMK general secretary TTV Dhinakaran also condemned reopening of Tasmac outlets.