Big change in society through prohibition: Nitish

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday said that there has been “a big change” in society through total ban on liquor, which was not being seen by those opposing it.

“Life of lakhs of people have been changed through prohibition…go and ask poor people in villages, especially women how ban on liquor has brought big changes in their lives,” said Mr. Kumar while addressing a gathering on the occasion of the second anniversary of prohibition day at Adhiveshan Bhawan in Patna.

He took on the Opposition and said: “They only express concern over those who have been arrested and sent to jail for either drinking liquor or being involved in illegal trade of it.”

Mr. Kumar also scoffed at media reports over the number of people sent to jail under the new prohibition and excise Act. “They [media reports] say over one lakh people have been sent to jail under the excise and prohibition law…I would like to ask them what is the capacity of jails in Bihar?...If the capacity of all the district jails of the State are put together, even then there would not be space to imprison such a large number of people,” he said. Some media reports, earlier, had said that over 1.20 lakh people have been sent to jail in Bihar in the last two years under the new stringent excise and prohibition law.

Mr. Kumar, however, furnished some data on it and said: “From April 2016 to 31 March 2018, a total of 6,82,570 raids were conducted, 1,05,954 cases were registered and 1,27,489 people were arrested, but only 8,123 people are in jail as per records on March 12, 2018”.

He further added that “among those arrested, altogether 801 are from outside the State”. Besides, he added, “11,70,865 litres of country made liquor and 17,13,780 litres of Indian Made Foreign Liquor have been seized in the State in last two years”.

‘The poor benefited’

“It’s the poor people, people from SC, ST and OBC class who have been benefited the most from prohibition,” said Mr. Kumar, while asserting that “let the people, who are in a very small number, oppose prohibition in the State, but I’ll keep it effectively enforced”. He also quoted Mahatma Gandhi’s words opposing liquor. Earlier, the Bihar government had declared that there has been reduction in crime by 18.5%, dacoity by 24% and kidnapping by 28% ever since the liquor ban was enforced in the State.