PMK President and Rajya Sabha MP Anbumani Ramadoss on Tuesday urged the village panchayats to pass resolutions against online rummy and liquor in the grama sabha meeting to be held on Independence Day. The Tamil Nadu Government on Sunday sought public opinion on the proposed gaming ban. 

மக்களின் உணர்வுகளை அரசிடம் உரக்க சொல்லும் வகையில் வரும் 15-ஆம் தேதி நடைபெறும் கிராம சபைக் கூட்டங்களில் ஆன்லைன் சூதாட்டத் தடை, மதுவிலக்கை வலியுறுத்தி தீர்மானங்கள் நிறைவேற்றப்பட வேண்டும். இதற்காக கிராமசபைக் கூட்டங்களில் பாமகவினர் அதிக அளவில் பங்கேற்க வேண்டும்!(4/4)#PMK

— Dr ANBUMANI RAMADOSS (@draramadoss) August 9, 2022

The State government announced that the grama sabha meeting would be held on Independence Day and directed the village Panchayats to ensure that people participate in sufficient numbers.

This will be the first grama sabha meeting after the State government enhanced the allocation for grama sabha meetings from Rs 1,000 to Rs 5,000 per meeting. According to Tamil Nadu Government rules, grama sabhas are required to meet 4 times a year including on Independence Day and Republic Day.

Taking to Twitter, Anbumani said: “Online rummy and liquor are the two major evils in the State. In the last one year, 28 persons have died of online rummy and more than two lakh lives are taken by liquor every year. To make the sounds of people louder, resolutions against online rummy and liquor should be passed in the grama sabha meetings and a large number of PMK men should participate in the grama sabha meetings.”

The former union health minister said that though the government will agree to the negative consequences of online rummy and liquor, banning them takes a long time and village panchayats being the grass root of democracy can take the demands of the public to the government through the grama sabha meetings.

Recently, the self regulatory gaming body AIGF has urged the Tamil Nadu governor to not approve the proposed ordinance. AIGF said a complete prohibition or ban on online skill-based games has been held to be arbitrary, illegal and unconstitutional by the Hon’ble Madras High Court in a judgment of a division bench of the court dated 3rd August, 2021 in Junglee Games India Private Limited v. State of Tamil Nadu & Others.