The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Cuddalore News : Liquor shops' staff upset over move to close down outlets

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jul 04, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Cuddalore

Liquor shops' staff upset over move to close down outlets

By Our Special Correspondent

CUDDALORE, JULY 3. The proposal to close down the loss-making Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC)-run Indian-made foreign liquor shops (IMFL) has upset salesmen at the retail outlets.

A couple of days ago, TASMAC officials in Cuddalore issued oral instructions to the salesmen of 42 IMFL shops, which were in the red, to close down the shops from July 1.

The shops located in rural areas have 126 employees on their rolsl: one supervisor and two salesmen each. The move has come as a shock to them and they made a representation to the District Collector, Gagandeep Singh Bedi.

The salesmen pointed out that they had paid advances for their jobs (for supervisor--Rs 50,000, and for salesman - Rs 15,000 each) and retrenchment would put them in serious trouble.

The TASMAC sources told The Hindu that the performance of the IMFL shops all over the State had come under review. Since it was a commercial proposition, the profit and loss accounts ought to be scrutinised, and their functioning had to be streamlined. Though there was a proposal to close down the loss-making IMFL shops, a decision was yet to be taken.

The sources said the TASMAC managing director had convened a meeting in Chennai for July 7 to discuss the issue. The performance of the shops was judged by various criteria such as salary, expenditure on stationery, rent for the building, transport charges of liquor from godown to shops and the turnover.

The shops that could not break even had been identified as loss-making, and these had now come under scrutiny.

The sources pointed out that 42 shops had been incurring losses ever since their inception, and they could not make a turnaround in the near future.

As the delivery of liquor was against remittances, these shops had fared badly, thus affecting the overall off-take situation. The salesmen said if the rural IMFL shops were not performing to the desired level, it could be due to many reasons, and the primary one could be the lack of affordability in villages.

Had they been posted in busy centres, they could have shown better results. Having fulfilled all the conditions while taking up the job, just as their counterparts elsewhere, they should not be discriminated against and penalised for no fault of theirs.

The sources said in the event of closure, there was a likelihood of their being absorbed in other jobs, might be in the bars.

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Liquor shops' staff upset over move to close down outlets