Chennai: The empty liquor bottle buy-back scheme by Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (Tasmac), which was put on hold in Chennai following protests by workers who closed the shops and gathered at depots, will be implemented this week.While the Madras high court directed Tasmac to file a status report by the end of Feb, Tasmac officials said that they would complete the implementation before the second week. “Last time, we attempted implementation in North, Central and South Chennai districts in one go, which led to confusion. This time, we would go in a phased manner and cover all three districts in a week,” he said.Tasmac already implemented the scheme across the state, under which an extra 10 will be collected from customers per bottle, and they can get it reimbursed by returning the empty bottle. The scheme, which was originally implemented in hill stations to prevent animals, and elephants in particular, from getting injured by stepping on empty liquor bottles, was later extended to all districts.However, workers complained of a lack of facilities and overburdening of the existing workforce. They opposed the scheme, demanding the engagement of a separate agency to manage the empty bottle business.Dhanasekaran, general secretary of the AICTE-affiliated Tasmac workers’ union, said workers’ demands remained the same, and it was impossible to implement the scheme through the existing workforce.
