PMK Anti-liquor Conference
PMK founder leader S. Ramadoss (left) and president G.K. Mani watch a skit on the ill-effects of alcohol at the party’s anti-liquor conference held in Coimbatore on Sunday. Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) founder leader S. Ramadoss on Sunday urged Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi to announce a ‘good decision’ on the enforcement of prohibition in the State on Gandhi Jayanthi day. The Chief Minister, who had chosen October 2 for launching the scheme of providing groceries at Rs. 50 under the public distribution system, should also come up with such an announcement, he said. Addressing the party’s conference on ‘Campaign for enforcement of prohibition and abolition of liquor shops’ here, Mr. Ramadoss said that instead of citing revenue as an excuse for the Government’s decision to run liquor shops, it should find other ways to generate revenue. Liquor shops were actually affecting middle and poor income groups more besides putting women to untold hardship. Prohibition should be enforced before the liquor trade wiped out the society, he said. He said that PMK’s campaign against liquor was not aimed at garnering votes and it had no political objective.
The revenue of Rs. 10,000 crore generated by the liquor trade for the State exchequer came only from the poor people. He said that the number of youths taking to alcohol was on the rise. Citing reports of the experts, Mr.Ramadoss said in five years almost all the youth in the State would turn out to be consumers of liquor. Union Minister of State for Railways R. Velu and party president and MLA, G.K. Mani took part.
