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.

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