In accordance with a Government Order (GO) issued previously for their closure, 500 retail stores selling alcoholic drinks would be shut down in Tamil Nadu starting on June 22 according to state-run spirits reseller TASMAC.
The declaration was made in the House in April of this year while Minister V Senthil Balaji was still in charge of Excise. He has since been detained by the Enforcement Directorate and admitted to the hospital for a heart-related ailment.
He had stated to the state Assembly on April 12 that 500 stores out of the 5,329 retail liquor outlets throughout the state (as of March 31, 2023) would be identified and closed. A Government Order (GO) dated April 20, 2023 was subsequently issued, according to the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC), which recalled the Assembly declaration made at the time ‘on the directions of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister’ MK Stalin.
The GO was about closing 500 retail liquor stores, according to what was stated. ‘In order to implement the GO, it has been directed to identify 500 retail outlets across the state and close them from June 22, 20223 onwards.’
‘Based on that, the said 500 retail outlets will not function from June 22,’ a TASMAC statement said. In the state, TASMAC manages a chain of liquor shops.
The PMK, the opposition party, welcomed the action and pushed Stalin to impose prohibition in the state. The PMK, an ardent proponent of a dry state, demanded the time-limited closure of all other businesses.
‘Although delayed, this is welcome. The Chief Minister had promised implementation of prohibition in phased manner and this (closure of 500 shops) should be the start for that journey,’ PMK president and Rajya Sabha MP Dr Anbumani Ramadoss said in a tweet.
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