Amid a bit of confusion over the nature and extent of the liquor prohibition to be implemented in Bihar from April next, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar refused to clarify the position and said the Government was committed for prohibition and the officials have been asked to prepare a prohibition policy.
Rejecting the reports that there was any confusion over prohibition, he said, “There could be confusion in the minds of some people but there is absolutely no confusion in our commitment.” The officials are likely to submit the draft policy and work plan to the CM in January.
“We will study and discuss all the aspects and agreements before finalising a policy,” he said but refused to reveal the details and added that when it would be finalised would be publicised. “There could be a lot of expectations. When I declared our intention of prohibition then voices were raised from different quarters who said I was going to commit a blunder. Different views are coming up and some are expressing happiness. Our new policy would be very positive and implement-able,” the CM said.
There had been reports that the ban would include only countrymade liquor which is usually consumed by the poor people in the countryside whereas the foreign liquor might be kept away from prohibition policy. The revenue from the sale of foreign liquor comes around Rs3,500 crore annually while only Rs1,500 crore revenue is from countrymade liquor.
The CM though did not clarify it, he, however, gave a piece of his mind by referring that his area of concern was poor people living in villages whose earning is limited and the bad habit of boozing destroys their families and hits hard the women.
“It will be premature to say anything today. When we will unfold our policy everything will be revealed at the right time,” the CM said while refusing to react on the reports that only countrymade liquor could be banned. He said it was not possible to react on all speculations and individual opinion. Once the draft prepared by the officials is brought before him, Nitish said, he would have detailed discussion. “I have already briefed the senior officials and also told the Chief Secretary. They are at work. Once they bring the draft of the policy it would be presented before the Cabinet,” said Nitish.
On the other hand, Excise and Prohibition Minister Abdul Jalil Mastan said that all kinds of liquor including foreign liquor would be banned under the proposed prohibition policy. “It will be a total prohibition,” he claimed even as the CM did never use word total whenever he mentioned prohibition.