Tamil Nadu will close down 500 retail shops run by the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation Limited (Tasmac) this year, Minister for Electricity, Prohibition and Excise V. Senthilbalaji announced in the Assembly on Wednesday.
In his reply to the discussion on the demands for grants for his departments, the Minister said he was making this "historic" announcement as instructed by Chief Minister M.K Stalin.
This will be the third time such a large number of Tasmac shops will be closed down. Both major parties — AIADMK and DMK — had promised closure of Tasmac shops ahead of the 2016 and 2021 Assembly elections.
Late Chief Minister Jayalalithaa announced the closure of 500 shops when she returned to power in 2016. AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami announced the closure of another 500 shops when he became the Chief Minister in 2017.
Since the DMK came to power in 2021, there have been demands from many political parties and members of the civil society to reduce the number of shops as the party had promised.
The 500 shops to be identified and closed will account for roughly 10% of the 5,329 retail shops run by Tasmac.
Earlier, AIADMK MLA S. Sekar said in the Assembly that the number of shops seemed to have increased since the DMK came to power. J.M.H. Aassan Moulana appealed for the closure of at least one shop functioning near a temple in his constituency.
Responding to them, Mr. Senthilbalaji said the government had in fact closed 96 shops set up during an earlier period, which were found to be in violation of the norms. He refuted concerns raised by former AIADMK Minister Natham R. Viswanathan that the increase in revenue from Tasmac seemed to be not just due to the increase in the sale prices but also to the increase in the sales volume.
Mr. Senthilbalaji said concerns over revenue leakage would be addressed with the end-to-end computerisation of Tasmac operations, including tender, inventory management and sales.
He announced an increase of ₹1,100, ₹930 and ₹840 in the monthly consolidated salary of supervisors, salespersons and assistant salespersons working in retail outlets. He also announced measures like installation of CCTV cameras and cash safes to improve the safety of shops identified to be vulnerable.
