Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday fulfilled one of his election promises and said Bihar would go dry from the next fiscal.
Lamenting that liquor had been one of the main reasons behind increase in domestic violence, Nitish said: “Women have suffered the most as they have to bear the brunt of a drunkard. I have been told that poor have been consuming liquor more thereby affecting women and children. From April 1, 2016, Bihar will go dry.”
The chief minister was speaking at a function to mark the Prohibition Day.
In July this year, woman activists had pleaded with him to shut down the illicit liquor shops which had mushroomed over the years in Bihar. Nitish, on the eve of elections, promised that if he retained power in November, he would enforce prohibition in the state.
Bihar’s Excise Minister Abdul Jalil Mastan said the decision would be implemented after discussing the matters with officials of the department.
Meanwhile, senior BJP leader and former deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi and LJP leader Chirag Paswan have welcomed Nitish’s statement.
Officials, however, admitted that the decision would see a dip in revenue collection by Excise Department, which had seen ten-fold increase in its income from nearly Rs 300 crore in 2005-06 to around Rs 3,650 crore in 2014-15.
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