Jayalalithaa shuts 500 liquor shops -Governance Now

Jayalalithaa shuts 500 liquor shops

Liquor outlets in Tamil Nadu will now remain from noon to 10 pm

Shivani Chaturvedi | May 23, 2016 | Chennai

#Jayalalithaa #liquor outlets shut #prohibition #alcohol #election promise

J Jayalalithaa began her second term as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu on Monday by announcing closure of 500 Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC) liquor shops.

The chief minister also ordered that liquor outlets can be open only from 12 pm to 10 pm.

As Jayalalithaa moved towards implementing her election manifesto, political experts spoke of the challenges she may face.

Political analyst and medical practitioner and Dr Sumanth Raman says, “How is she going to make up the loss of revenue. Liquor sales brings in almost Rs 30,000 crore to the state.”

Introducing rehabilitation centres in the state will also be required, he adds.

Political commentator BR Haran concurs. “At the end of the previous tenure, the government had liability of Rs. 4 lakh crores. The state needs revenue. Without having strong alternative as the source of revenue for the state, she might face a challenge,” he says.

Professor S Janakarajan, an economist at Madras Institute of Development Studies, feels, “It is going to take a couple years to bring prohibition in the state. She needs to do a lot of ground work to bring in prohibition as there might be hooch tragedies. In this state, people have been drinking since 1967. It will just add burden to the state.”

“Also, the state’s loss of revenue has to be looked into when prohibition is introduced. Jayalalithaa needs to take a bold decision to levy some new taxes, such as to start with tax on diesel car vehicles,” he adds.

Comments

Other News

Elections 2024: 1,351 candidates in fray for Phase 3

As many as 1,351 candidates from 12 states /UTs are contesting elections in Phase 3 of Lok Sabha Elections 2024. The number includes eight contesting candidates for the adjourned poll in 29-Betul (ST) PC of Madhya Pradesh. Additionally, one candidate from Surat PC in Gujarat has been elected unopp

2023-24 net direct tax collections exceed budget estimates by 7.40%

The provisional figures of direct tax collections for the financial year 2023-24 show that net collections are at Rs. 19.58 lakh crore, 17.70% more than Rs. 16.64 lakh crore in 2022-23. The Budget Estimates (BE) for Direct Tax revenue in the Union Budget for FY 2023-24 were fixed at Rs. 18.

‘World’s biggest festival of democracy’ begins

The much-awaited General Elections of 2024, billed as the world’s biggest festival of democracy, began on Friday with Phase 1 of polling in 102 Parliamentary Constituencies (the highest among all seven phases) in 21 States/ UTs and 92 Assembly Constituencies in the State Assembly Elections in Arunach

A sustainability warrior’s heartfelt stories of life’s fleeting moments

Fit In, Stand Out, Walk: Stories from a Pushed Away Hill By Shailini Sheth Amin Notion Press, Rs 399

What EU’s AI Act means for the world

The recent European Union (EU) policy on artificial intelligence (AI) will be a game-changer and likely to become the de-facto standard not only for the conduct of businesses but also for the way consumers think about AI tools. Governments across the globe have been grappling with the rapid rise of AI tool

Indian Railways celebrates 171 years of its pioneering journey

The Indian Railways is celebrating 171 glorious years of its existence. Going back in time, the first train in India (and Asia) ran between Mumbai and Thane on April 16, 1853. It was flagged off from Boribunder (where CSMT stands today). As the years passed, the Great Indian Peninsula Railway which ran the