Patna – Keeping one of his pre-poll promises made before the Bihar Assembly elections, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has announced ban on sale of alcohol in the state from April 1, 2016.
Nitish said though liquor was the biggest source of revenue for the government and the ban could slow the pace of development, “he was ready to compromise with development than see people suffer”. “We are ready to slow the pace of development a bit for the sake of the poor who are vulnerable to liquor. Their houses are spoilt…their lives become hell with alcohol consumption,” he said.
“We tried to impose this ban in 1977-78 as well but it was not effective. But as I had promised women of Bihar who made this complaint months ago, I think this ban was important,” Kumar said while speaking at an event in Patna.
Nitish directed Chief Secretary Anjani Kumar Singh “to do whatever needed to be done” for preparing a new liquor policy. “The women had demanded ban on liquor during a function in Patna and I had promised them to implement it if voted back to power… The village women are the biggest victim of liquor consumption, which will not be tolerated now,” he said.
The Opposition too has welcomed the move. “We had been demanding liquor ban since long… We have to see what steps the government takes in the new excise policy,” said senior BJP leader Nand Kishor Yadav.