Chennai: The dying of twenty-two individuals within the two Tamil Nadu districts of Viluppuram and Chengalpattu since Saturday, allegedly after consuming spurious liquor, has once more turned the deal with the long-existing prohibition debate within the state and the politics round Tamil Nadu’s liquor trade.
A pre-Independence period prohibitionon regulation in Tamil Nadu was lifted by Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam patriarch M. Karunanidhi in 1971 throughout his tenure as Chief Minister. Then, in 1983, then All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) CM M.G. Ramachandran arrange the Tamil Nadu State Advertising Company Restricted (TASMAC) on the market of liquor within the state. He additionally arrange the Tamil Nadu Spirit Company (TASCO) for making liquor. TASCO has since been dissolved.
Since then, successive DMK and AIADMK governments within the state have taken various positions on prohibition — alternating between voicing help for prohibition or permitting gross sales — and each blaming the opposite of allegedly strengthening the liquor commerce in Tamil Nadu.
In 2001, former CM J. Jayalalithaa, gave TASMAC the monopoly for alcohol gross sales within the state. In January 2002, O. Panneerselvam — who was chief minister for six months between September 2001 and March 2002, when Jayalalithaa needed to step down owing to a authorized case — launched the India-Made Overseas Liquor (IMFL) within the state at an reasonably priced worth, reportedly to keep away from deaths as a consequence of spurious liquor.
In 2002 over 100 individuals had reportedly died, allegedly by consuming spurious liquor. “As IMFL is past the attain of the poor individuals, they drank spurious liquor and these tragedies passed off. So the federal government has determined to introduce low-cost liquor,” OPS had reportedly stated, whereas making IMFL obtainable at low-cost charges.
In 2003, Jayalalithaa after resuming energy once more took full management of the liquor commerce by extending the scope of TASMAC into retail. Earlier than that TASMAC would procure wholesale provide of IMFL from distinction distilleries and breweries after which promote the alcohol to non-public gamers. However with the entry of TASMAC in retail, non-public gamers needed to shut store.
“From non-public it turned ‘arasanga sarayam’ (authorities liquor),” stated former IAS officer and former excise & taxation commissioner of Haryana, M.G. Devasahayam.
At current all alcohol in Tamil Nadu is bought via state-run TASMAC, which buys straight from distilleries. There are not any non-public liquor retailers.
On Monday, CM and DMK chief M.Okay. Stalin visited the federal government hospital in Mundiyampakkam, Viluppuram, the place 40 individuals have been present process therapy within the alleged spurious liquor incident. Just a few others had been admitted to hospitals in Puducherry and Chengalpattu.
Stating that there have been media reviews of spurious liquor being bought within the TASMAC bottles, Stalin stated “the 2 incidents [in Viluppuram and Chengalpattu] can be investigated by the CBI-CID”.
In the meantime, opposition events have been alleging that efforts to shut unauthorised TASMAC retailers, particularly these in areas round colleges and temples, have been lax. The opposition has additionally alleged that whereas on one hand the variety of TASMAC retailers is growing unchecked, however the DMK authorities has not been in a position to crack down on spurious liquor gross sales.
Two days after the spurious liquor incident in Viluppuram, Opposition celebration chief and AIADMK normal secretary Edappadi Okay. Palaniswami (EPS), who additionally visited the victims in Villupuram Tuesday, demanded the resignation of each CM Stalin and minister for electrical energy, prohibition and excise V. Senthil Balaji.
EPS alleged that illicit liquor is bought in giant numbers within the state and added, “Regardless of reviews on illicit liquor sale, the state authorities has not taken motion due to the revenue that’s generated from it. The DMK authorities is extra centered on cash than the issues brought on by it [spurious liquor].”
In the meantime, police in an announcement Monday stated, “1,558 individuals have been arrested within the state previously two days for alleged sale of illicit liquor. [While] 1,842 instances have been filed, 19,028 litres of distilled arrack [a kind of liquor] have been destroyed”.
The assertion added: “Within the yr 2023 alone 55,474 instances with regard to liquor have been filed [till date], and 55,173 individuals have been arrested and 79 have been booked below the Goondas Act.”
The Goondas Act offers for preventive detention of these accused of homicide, chain snatching, bootlegging, breaking of cyber legal guidelines, drug instances, immoral trafficking and sexual offences.
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From prohibition to state-run liquor retailers
The erstwhile Madras Presidency, through the tenure of the Congress’s C Rajagopalachari as premiere, had in 1937 introduced prohibition within the district of Salem, and later prolonged it to the remainder of Madras. The prohibition regulation continued after Independence in Madras state and subsequently in Tamil Nadu, after it was fashioned in 1969.
In 1971, nonetheless, the Karunanidhi-led DMK authorities lifted the liquor ban within the state. The previous CM had reportedly reasoned that availability of liquor within the neighbouring states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala and within the Union Territory of Pondicherry meant quick access to alcohol for the individuals of Tamil Nadu, with the prohibition solely leading to a income loss for the federal government.
In 1974, nonetheless, Karunanidhi as soon as once more launched a ban on the sale and consumption of liquor within the state. However following two reviews of spurious liquor tragedies within the state in 1975 and 1976, the M.G. Ramachandran-led AIADMK authorities, which got here to energy within the state in 1981, allowed the sale of liquor in Tamil Nadu, reportedly in violation of the celebration’s ballot promise.
Then, in 1983, AIADMK below MGR arrange TASMAC. From 1983 onwards, for the subsequent six years, sale of liquor was permitted within the state, earlier than prohibition once more being launched in 1987.
The then DMK authorities once more lifted the ban on the sale of alcohol in 1990, whereas in 1991 AIADMK, below Jayalalithaa banned the sale of liquor within the state.
However in 2001, Jayalalithaa once more reintroduced TASMAC within the state.
In line with analysts, the swing between prohibition and sale of alcohol by successive governments previously 50 years, has been due to governments being “trapped in a cycle for simple income”.
“The state has fallen right into a entice, they’re identified for aggressive freebies [DMK and AIADMK, to woo voters] and this at one level went past welfare, with the federal government even offering non-essential issues like cycle and tv,” stated Devasahayam.
He added: “This had positioned a heavy burden on state exchequer. State funds went topsy-turvy and the traditional tax income was not adequate to cater to this and the federal government fell into the entice and liquor is simple cash.”
In 2016, whereas Jayalalithaa promised phased prohibition within the state she had reportedly stated, “In 1991, once I turned the Chief Minister, I put an finish to low-cost liquor since I had made a promise to the moms.”
In the identical yr, DMK chief Kanimozhi had reportedly claimed Tamil Nadu had grow to be the place with probably the most variety of younger widows in India due to alcoholism. Kanimozhi had additionally stated, “Seventy-five per cent of earnings of households of alcoholic males go to liquor retailers.”
In line with an announcement made by state minister Senthil Balaji within the meeting in April, “In 2022-23, TASMAC income touched Rs 44,098.56 crore, 22.3 per cent greater than the income from final yr.”
TASMAC in Tamil Nadu politics
The DMK in its manifesto launched forward of the 2021 meeting election had assured prohibition in phased method, however opposition events within the state allege that whereas the ruling celebration has claimed it is going to shut 500 TASMAC retailers round colleges and temples quickly, “1000 new TASMAC retailers are being opened”.
Opposition leaders have additionally alleged that “a number of a whole lot of crores is being swindled” by the ruling authorities within the liquor enterprise.
Talking to ThePrint, AIADMK spokesperson Kovai Sathyan, alleged, “The ground inventory doesn’t tally with the acquisition ledger of TASMAC. The purchases are being comprised of the identified distilleries straight and this doesn’t go on the file of TASMAC however is bought via TASMAC retailers. The cash goes into their kitty.”
He additionally alleged that a number of non-licensed TASMAC retailers have sprouted close to the primary ones, “and these will not be being correctly monitored and curbed”.
Calling TASMAC probably the most corrupt physique of the state, Narayanan Thirupathy, state vice-president of the BJP (an ally of the AIADMK within the state), alleged, politicians from the state personal a lot of the distilleries and added {that a} decade-old criticism has been the poor high quality of the alcohol supplied.
Devasahayam too known as the alcohol supplied in TASMAC a gradual poison.
“Uncooked spirit produced from sugarcane molasses is touted as liquor. Folks don’t discover a distinction between the standard of TASMAC and hooch liquor. Hooch is reasonable and therefore individuals favor it, whereas 1 / 4 of TASMAC liquor is round Rs 200-400,” he stated.
He added that with to make income, the standard of liquor has suffered and with the state controlling the retail, many established manufacturers vanished from the state.
Narayanan and Devasahayam added that “distilleries being owned by state politicians have added to the issue”.
The state authorities had in a gazette notification in March launched a particular license to permit the serving of liquor in convention halls, conference centres, marriage halls, banquet halls, sports activities stadiums and family features, and the set up of liquor merchandising machines in malls within the metropolis. This too has been criticised by many.
“By saying that they’ll shut retailers they discover new and progressive methods of promoting extra. They’ve tasted cash and they don’t seem to be bothered about individuals and their well being,” stated Narayanan.
EPS talking in Villupuram alleged that the DMK authorities was not performing in opposition to spurious liquor within the state. He additionally alleged that an individual arrested in Chengalpattu for the alleged promoting of spurious liquor was associated to a DMK chief.
In the meantime, DMK spokesperson A. Saravanan talking to ThePrint said that the menace of spurious liquor “has not sprung up now however has been there for an extended time frame,” and added, “There have been deaths as a consequence of spurious liquor throughout EPS’ and Jayalalithaa’s time and have all of them resigned? They didn’t even reply like how CM Stalin has responded now. The CM has taken stringent motion and has additionally stated that nobody can be spared.”
Stating that unlawful liquor is a critical subject, the DMK spokesperson stated that the federal government will crack down on this menace with an iron fist. He additionally accused the opposition events of creating “baseless remarks which are simply politically motivated allegations. The federal government has promised that no matter celebration traces whoever is responsible can be booked.”
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)
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