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Break the rules
 Recently,
when all the wine shops in the state were brought under the control of TASMAC of
the Tamil Nadu government, I had hailed the decision, in this column,
expressing the hope that the deficiencies in the functioning of wine shops under
the control of private operators would be rectified and that the government
would provide proper checks and balances for the welfare of the public.
But contrary to the
expectations of everyone, the government appears to lay more emphasis on the
revenue aspect than the welfare of society. It is a sorry spectacle to see the
rules being flouted while running these shops.
When the private operators ran
these wine shops, the government had issued guidelines stipulating that the
shops should not be open after 10 p.m. This rule has been in existence right
from late M G Ramachandran's regime. The rationale behind this move was that
intoxication had a direct bearing on occurrence of criminal activities. Most of
the criminals and anti-social elements were active mainly at night.
In the past, some of the
private operators had kept their shops open till 11 p.m., that too by bribing
the local policemen. However, the government, while running its own shops now,
has allowed the shops to be open till midnight. The vociferous protests from
political parties that this would create law and order problems at night and
affect peace and harmony in society have fallen on deaf ears, and there has been
no review of the decision.
 There
are already rules in existence that liquor shops should not be opened near
schools, temples and important public places. During the previous DMK regime,
the government cooperative society had opened a wine shop near the famous
Kaligambal Temple on Thambu Chetty Street near Parry's Corner in Chennai. When
the 'Indian Express' daily published a photograph about it, the government
ordered the closure of the shop the same day. Presently, a number of wine shops
are run near temples and important public places, ignoring government rules.
Thirdly, the government's
exploitation of workers in these wine shops has been condemned by various
opposition parties. The government receives a huge amount as advance from those
who want to work in these shops. The workers and supervisor of each shop,
numbering three to four per shop, should work 16 hours a day, that is from 8
a.m. till midnight, with no holiday.
The
salary for these employees was initially fixed at Rs 1,000 per month for the
salesman and at Rs 2,000 per month for the supervisors. Recently, the government
had increased the emoluments by Rs 1,000 per month for both categories. Even
though they are entitled to sales commission, this amount should not exceed Rs
2,000 to 3,000 per employee. All told, the employee would have to slog for 16
hours a day for a payment of Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000 per month, without any
holiday, that too after paying Rs 10,000 to Rs 50,000 as advance.
The government has to ensure
that the provisions of the Minimum Wages Act and the Shops and Establishment
Act, which specified working hours and holidays, are implemented. If the
government is seen as violating its own rules and guidelines, it would serve as
a precedent for the private sector to exploit employees. Law-makers must not
turn law-breakers. As the song in the film 'Boys'
goes, the trend apparently is...'Break the rules'.
Harvey
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