Tasmac resumes closure of liquor outlets selectively

Chennai: Tasmac has resumed closing outlets after a week-long pause, but not all were the ones that were supposed to be.Though 616 outlets have been shuttered as of Thursday, some of those being closed do not match the list originally drawn up by district managers. Instead, officials have targeted outlets without attached bars and those in clusters with the lowest sales, a shift TOI earlier reported in these columns.On May 11, chief minister C Joseph Vijay promised to shut 717 liquor shops near schools and places of worship. The effort got off to a swift start, with roughly 460 shops closed before it halted. Bar owners had lobbied that shutting attached-bar outlets would eliminate jobs for workers dependent on them.On Monday, at a thanksgiving rally in Trichy, Vijay declared the promise was fulfilled, though the numbers, and the methodology, had quietly shifted.By Tuesday, Tasmac management was under pressure. The corporation sought district-wise sales figures and directed managers to prioritise closing low-revenue outlets. Officials said the remaining closures would be completed before Friday. Shops within 500m of prohibited zones, an official said, would be relocated within the same area instead of facing closure.With licences for existing Tasmac-attached bars set to expire this month, the corporation is also preparing to revise tender conditions to reflect the new rules.In a separate enforcement action, Tasmac has suspended 277 supervisors and salesmen across the state for selling liquor above the maximum retail price. Chennai accounted for the most suspensions, with 117, followed by Trichy with 49, Coimbatore with 39, Madurai with 38 and Salem with 34. Suspended staff must pay a penalty and submit a written undertaking against future violations before they can be redeployed at another outlet.