Billing the coronavirus lockdown period as a rare opportunity, Tamil Nadu Congress Committee on Friday urged the state government to start rehabilitation centres to treat people addicted to alcohol and work towards implementing prohibition by cutting down on number of liquor vends.
The state-run Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation liquor outlets have been shut following the clamping of lockdown and ever since hooked up people were running from pillar to post to source their drink, TNCC president K S Alagiri said.
Tamil Nadu is under lockdown from 6 pm on March 24.
Claiming that about one crore people in Tamil Nadu were addicted to liquor, he said in a statement that the lockdown presented a "rare opportunity" and using it the government should set up rehabilitation centres to treat them.
Recalling late J Jayalalithaa's assurance, during the run up to the 2016 Assembly elections, of implementing stagerred prohibition, the Congress leader alleged the Palaniswami government has buried the prohibition policy desired by the former Chief Minister.
"If the AIADMK government is concerned about people's welfare and interested in fulfilling the objective of Jayalalithaa, the government should cut down on the number of TASMAC outlets in the State in a phased manner and reduce its revenue from liquor sale," the top Congress leader said.
Apparently, Alagiri asked the government to work towards implementing a complete ban on production, sale and consumption of liquor, reffered to as prohibition.
Also, the senior leader drew the government's attention to news reports of alleged brewing and sale of illicit liquor in Vellore's Anaicut area.
Despite arrests "here and there," in this connection, "I would like to state that the Tamil Nadu government has failed to prevent sale of illicit liquor in the State," he alleged.
