COIMBATORE: Minister of prohibition and excise K Vignesh on Saturday denied reports that the Tamil Nadu govt was planning to privatize Tasmac. “There is no intention to privatize Tasmac,” the minister told reporters in Coimbatore. The minister claimed that 717 Tasmac liquor shops have been closed as ordered by chief minister C Joseph Vijay. On May 12, the chief minister ordered closure of 717 liquor shops which were located near schools, temples and bus stops. He alleged that a massive scam had taken place in Tasmac where Rs 3,600 crore annually was being siphoned off into the accounts of private individuals. “For the last couple of years, Rs 10 was charged for every bottle. About one crore bottles are sold everyday which turns to be Rs 10 crore per day and Rs 300 crore every month. The money wasn’t given to employees but shared by various people including those who were in power. Now this has been completely stopped by not charging any amount for the bottles,” he said. The minister said, “We are not like former minister V Senthil Balaji, but we have brought about a massive revolution in Tasmac. Corruption had occurred not only in the sale of liquor but also in procurement. The past irregularities in the sector would be brought to light one by one. Annually, 88 lakh cases of liquor were being procured. For each case, an amount ranging between Rs 40 and 90 or even more is charged extra. This amounted to more than Rs 1,000 crore. This amount had gone to a single party and families. A govt order was issued on June 5 to stop this.” Pointing out the prevailing practice of collecting money from officials, the minister warned that strict action would be taken against anyone involved in corruption. The minister said the govt’s goal was to create a drug-free Tamil Nadu. Pointing out that some students had fallen prey to drug addiction, the minister emphasized the need to break the drug supply chain and vowed that the govt would not allow drugs to enter Tamil Nadu through any channel. He said awareness campaigns would be conducted among school and college students.
