Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday presented its reply to the Madras High Court after the judiciary questioned about the online sale and door delivery of liquor. In its reply, the government has stated such operations for liquor were not feasible in the existing circumstances. The government has given an assurance that social distancing in all TASMAC outlets will be maintained and protection will also be given to the employees in the shops and the public. Since the lockdown due to coronavirus will take some more time to come to an end, TASMAC outlets in the state are being reopened like other shops, the government said.
As announced earlier, TASMAC outlets across Tamil Nadu will be reopened on May 7 with the exclusion of nearby areas of Chennai city (Chengalpattu, Kanchipuram and Thiruvallur districts) due to the sharp rise in the number of positive coronavirus cases. Liquor shops coming under the state-run TASMAC will be reopening after almost forty days when the nation went into lockdown mode on March 25. New directives have also been released to TASMAC including a 15% hike for liquor as well as separate timings for customers of different age groups who want to buy alcohol. The Tamil Nadu police too were given a directive to be followed for monitoring the smooth functioning of the outlets in the state.
