Chennai, The Tamil Nadu Government on Saturday issued an Order hiking the salary of state-owned Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC) employees with retrospective effect from April this year. This followed an announcement made by Electricity, Prohibition and Excise Minister V Senthil Balaji made in the State Assembly during the demand for grants for his department on September seven. Announcing a Rs 500 hike in salary, he said this would benefit a total of 25,009 employees working in 5,402 TASMAC retail shops in the State. They included 6,761 Supervisors, 15,090 salesmen and 3,158 assistant salesmen, who were working on contract/consolidated pay basis.
The hike will be given with retrospective effect from April this year, the Minister said and added that the government would incur an additional expenditure of Rs 15.01 crore per year. Despite the COVID breakout and the pandemic-induced lockdown, the sale of liquor TASMAC has crossed the Rs 33,000 mark for the second successive year in 2020-21. Mr Senthil Balaji said the sales, which stood at Rs 33,133.24 crore in 2019-20, has marginally increased to Rs 33,811.14 crores in the year 2020-21. Percentage wise the sales margin might be slightly lower when compared to previous years, as the sale of liquor through 5,402 Retail Vending Shops in 38 districts, was one of the major revenue earners for the state government for funding its various welfare schemes.
Mr Senthil Balaji said the sale for the current fiscal 2021-22 up to July 31, 2021 stood at Rs 7,907.61 crore. On an average, the daily sales will be in the range of about Rs 90 crore to Rs 95 crore and it would cross the Rs 100 crore mark during weekends and festival seasons like, New Year, Pongal and Deepavali.
(EW Correspondent)
