With Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announcing to ban liquor in his State from April 1, 2016, anti-liquor campaign organisations Utkal Gandhi Smarak Nidhi and Odisha Madamukti Abhiyan have demanded similar steps in Odisha.
Utkal Gandhi Smarak Nidhi President Prahallad Sinha and Odisha Madamukti Abhiyan Chairperson Pramila Swain have jointly demanded total prohibition in Odisha.
Seeking a total ban on the manufacture and sale of liquor in the State, Sinha said, “Alcohol is the main cause of all social problems. Everybody knows its adverse impact on society. It affects family and society. Time has come for total prohibition.”
He said the Bihar Government is earning over Rs3,650-crore revenue from excise while the Odisha Government earns Rs2,100 crore from liquor business.
However, the loss due to spread of liquor is a whopping Rs2 lakh crore in other terms, and rural Odisha is facing the real heat from liquor, he said.
Sinha said a large number of tribal villagers have shunned liquor in the past several years because of the anti-liquor campaign led by the Odisha Madamukti Abhiyan. But a complete prohibition by the State Government would be a permanent solution to the problem of alcoholism and the deaths caused by spurious liquor.
Pramila Swain said former Chief Minister Nabakrushna Choudhury had initiated steps to ban manufacture and sale of liquor in the State by enacting the Orissa Prohibition Act of 1956. But subsequent Governments showed no seriousness in the matter, she rued.
Both Sinha and Swain urged Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to ban liquor.