Chennai: Two days after winning the confidence vote and proved his majority, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami today assumed charge at his office at the State Secretariat and signed five files, including ordering closure of 500 more state-owned TASMAC liquor shops as part of AIADMK's poll promise of implementing total prohibition in a phased manner.
Ms Jayalalithaa, soon after taking charge in May last year, also signed a similar file ordering closure of 500 shops of the total 6,700 shops in the State. With Mr Palaniswami's announcement, 500 more shops would be closed, further bringing down the number of TASMAC retail outlets to 5,700 in the state. Sale of liquor through the state-owned TASMAC outlets was one of the major revenue earner for the government as it kept rising every year and crossed the Rs 25,000 crore mark at the end of last fiscal. (UNI)