JOIN USLesson: Prohibition doesn’t work
Over 70 people have died so far in Bihar after consuming illicitly brewed country liquor recently. The number of deaths is expected to rise as hundreds of people are still in hospital. The epicentre of the tragedy is Chapra in Saran district; most fatalities have been reported here. However, deaths have been reported from several other districts, including neighbouring Siwan as well as distant Begusarai. The Bihar police must speed up the probe to identify the source of the deadly liquor so that its sale and transport to other parts of the state and elsewhere can be halted. The tragedy has underscored yet again the failure of the Bihar government’s approach to fighting rampant alcoholism and poverty in the state. In 2016, Bihar’s JD(U) government banned the production and sale of alcohol in the state. However, it has been evident for some time now that the ban has not worked. Liquor is brought in from other states. Worse, hooch is being brewed and sold to the poor. Prohibition has only pushed the problem underground, which means that unscrupulous brewers use cheap and toxic chemicals to manufacture liquor. The state has witnessed scores of hooch tragedies in recent years. This has been the case in Gujarat as well, which too has banned alcohol. Illicit liquor claimed the lives of over 40 people there in July this year.
Prohibition has never worked anywhere in the world. Instead of admitting his mistake and revising policy, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is worsening its fallout. In response to the latest liquor tragedy, he has said that his government will not provide compensation to the families of the deceased. Why is he punishing the victims of his ill-advised policy? These are desperately poor people, who have lost their sole bread-earners to hooch. Instead of supporting their rehabilitation, the Chief Minister is adding to their woes.
Besides Bihar and Gujarat, prohibition is in place in Mizoram and Nagaland. Electoral politics underlie the decision; political parties promise prohibition to win the votes of women. Although prohibition reportedly reduced domestic violence and crime in Bihar initially, the easy availability of illicit liquor has limited these gains, while intensifying the problems with this policy. With police hand-in-glove with bootleggers, production and sale of hooch has grown and left people even more vulnerable to the deadly impact of consuming the toxic cocktails. Alcoholism is a problem but the prohibition policy focuses on addressing the symptoms of the disease rather than the causes. Pushing consumption of alcohol underground is claiming lives and causing more devastation. It must end.