Bihar will go liquor-free from April next year. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced this to fulfil his pre-election commitment to women voters.
Addressing a meeting of the Excise and Prohibition Department, the CM said a new action plan and a new excise policy will be implemented from April 1, 2016. He said, “Women had been expressing serious concern over the State’s excise policy and protesting against the increasing tendency of men’s drinking habit. We also want to end such a policy which causes darkness in the lives of the poor people.”
On the day he took charge of his department, new Excise and Prohibition Minister Abdul Jalil Mastan had announced to ban liquor irrespective of the losses to State exchequer.
The CM said Bihar needs progress and prosperity and for the welfare of its people if there is some loss to the exchequer it could be adjusted. He said the officials have been told that the prohibition be implemented strictly and they should chart out an action plan.
In its previous tenure, the Nitish Government came under attack from different sections for facilitating opening of liquor shops at every step. The Opposition parties had accused the Government of promoting madiralaya (liquor shops) instead of vidyalaya (schools). The religious and social bodies also had been critical of this policy.
Nitish said the Government would try to ensure that the poor don’t drink liquor and spend their hard-earned money on education and nutrition of their children. He said the move will add to the happiness of families and complimented self-help groups of women for working hard in the direction of prohibition.
“We earn a revenue of about Rs 4,000 crore annually from excise but in the larger interest of the poor and particularly women we will go for prohibition from April 2016 in bid to bring back happiness in their lives,” Nitish said.
Senior BJP leader and former Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi said the BJP would support the Government in enforcing the prohibition. He recalled that Nitish at a function of women self-help groups on July 7 last had announced that his Government would implement full prohibition once returned back to power. The CM, he pointed out, had made this promise on the pressing demand of the women.
Modi said RJD chief lalu Prasad was also highly critical of the Government’s excise policy.
In 2005-06, the revenue from liquor was Rs 319 crore which showed a 10-time increase by 2014-15 when the revenue collection shot up to Rs 3,650 crore.