liquor to flow 24 hours...... senthamizh nadenum podhinilae !!

செந்தமிழ் நாடெனும் போதினிலே - இன்பத்
தேன் வந்து பாயுது காதினிலே - எங்கள்
தந்தையர் நாடென்ற பேச்சினிலே - ஒரு
சக்தி பிறக்குது மூச்சினிலே 

Transliteration :

senthamizh naadenum podhinilae - inbath 
thaen vandhu paayudhu kaadhinilae - engal 
thandhaiyar naadendra paechinilae - oru 
sakthi pirakkudhu moochinilae 

பாரதியின் செந்தமிழ் நாடெனும் போதினிலே பாடலைத் தெரியாதவர்கள் இருக்கமுடியாது.  தமிழ்நாட்டின் சிறப்புக்களைப் புகழ்ந்து போற்றி பாரதி பாடிய பாடல் அது.  இன்னமும் பாரதியின் அந்தப் பாடல் வரிகளைச் சொல்லிச்சொல்லித்தான் நாம் நெஞ்சை நிமிர்த்திக்கொள்கிறோம்.

Meaning :  When you utter the name of ‘sweet Tamil Nadu’- it is music to ears and you feel honey flowing; when you speak of  the country of your forefathers, you get great amount of power to succeed in your breathe’.  This beautiful State of Ours - Tamil Nadu covers an area of 130,058 square kilometres  and is the eleventh largest state in India.   With the Independence of the Nation,  Madras Presidency became Madras State. The state was subsequently split up along linguistic lines. In 1969, Madras State was renamed Tamil Nadu, meaning Tamil country.

There are lot of good things to boast about – the State has many Industries, especially textile automobile, telecom and ITES sectors – there is one Unit which has been earning crores whose revenue has been steadily on the increase; from 2828 crores in 2002-03 to 14965 crores in 2010-11 !!!!!  - and that has a Capital structure of Rs.15 crore as its authorized capital and equal amount of paid up capital with the entire contribution made by the State Govt.  No prizes for guessing that right !!  - and it in the State which had a long history of prohibition, first implemented in 1937 by Indian National Congress Govt of C Rajagopalachari.

It is the ‘Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation’ more popularly known as -  (TASMAC),  a company owned by the Government of Tamil Nadu, having  monopoly over wholesale and retail vending of alcohol in Tamil Nadu.   It controls the Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) trade in the state

TASMAC was established in 1983 by the government of M. G. Ramachandran (MGR) for wholesale vending of alcohol in Tamil Nadu. After 1983, TASMAC was in charge of wholesale liquor sales in the state whenever prohibition was lifted. In 2001, prohibition was lifted again and TASMAC became the wholesale monopoly for alcohol. For retail vending, the state auctioned off licenses for running liquor shops and bars. But this led to the formation of cartels and loss of revenue to the state. The government tried to counter this by introducing a lot system from the financial year 2001-02, where potential bidders bid for shops grouped by revenue. But the lot system could not prevent cartelisation, as bidders later withdrew in favour of others. In October 2003, the government passed an amendment to the Tamil Nadu Prohibition Act, 1937, making TASMAC the sole retail vendor of alcohol in the state.  Presently,  TASMAC procures IMFS and Beer stocks locally from six IMFS manufacturers and three Beer manufacturers in the State.

Today most papers have a newsitem that 5 Star hotels  in Chennai and Tiruchi can serve liquor 24 hours. This will be applicable to similar hotels in Coimbatore and Madurai provided they pay double the amount of privilege fee.  Other hotels are allowed to do business for an additional hour.  Under the revised system, this category of hotels can serve liquor from 11 a.m. to midnight, instead of 11 p.m.  An order to this effect was issued by the Home, Prohibition and Excise Department on June 26.

In view of the presence of international civil airports in Chennai and Tiruchi, the hours of business of five-star hotels for the purpose of serving liquor have been made round the clock straightaway. As there are no international airports in Coimbatore and Madurai, five-hotels there have been treated differently.  The government move is in response to representations from the hospitality sector to extend the duration.  An official clarified that the government has made this move not to generate revenue but to ensure availability of quality liquor for international travellers who reach the cities in the late hours of the day.  However, the decision will not cover bars of the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC), another official said.

So those privileged citizens of the Country and those tourists travelling to Tamil Nadu now have the facility of availability of liquor around the clock………….

With regards – S. Sampathkumar.

5th July 2012.