Bihar walks a tough line in first year of total prohibition

The Bihar model of prohibition seems to have taken off with a bang, with around 44,000 people put behind bars and over 10 lakh litres of liquor seized, during its one-year of enforcement since April 1, 2016.

It was in July 2015 that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had made a pre-election promise to ban liquor in the state if he returned to power. Less than a week after assuming the chair, he announced on November 26, 2015, that sale and manufacture of countrymade and spiced liquor would be prohibited in Bihar from April 1, 2016.

Five days later, Nitish enforced total prohibition, and Bihar hasn't looked back since then with the entire state machinery put into execution of the law. It was even alleged by the Opposition that several other issues suffered due to focus on prohibition.

The scale of operations can be gauged from the fact that more than 2.13 lakh raids have been carried out by the police, excise and rail sleuths and almost 40,000 cases have been lodged in connection with them, besides the arrest of 43,978 persons, of which 43,941 were forwarded to jail, between April 1, 2016 and March 26, 2017.

At the time of prohibition, there were an estimated 44 lakh alcoholics in Bihar. "The previous year has been phenomenal with the impact of prohibition reaching far and wide. Independent research has shown how people have diverted their spends on milk, dairy products and other consumer goods," state excise commissioner Aditya Kumar Das told DNA.

The research Das is referring to has been conducted by Asian Development Research Institute (ADRI) and Jagjivan Ram Institute of Parliamentary Studies and Political Research (JRIPSPR), and have often found mention in Nitish's speech too.

The JRIPSPR has studied 600 families residing in slum areas of Patna, where one or more members were habitual drinkers. The study found that while domestic fights saw a dip of around 87 per cent, public brawls reduced by 93 per cent.

Assessing the impact on economy, the ADRI report claimed increase in sale of milk by 11 per cent, milk products by 17.5 per cent, stationery by 30 per cent, electrical goods by 51 per cent and automobiles by over 30 per cent.

The diversion of spending in other sectors, is what Nitish claims has helped Bihar ebb the Rs 5,000 crore revenue loss due to prohibition. The Bihar CM, in fact, has been touring the length and breadth of the country championing the prohibition agenda, purportedly with an eye on the 2019 general election.

The other side of prohibition includes rampant bootlegging with liquor bottles being sold for twice or thrice the MRP. Intelligence inputs with security agencies suggest that smuggling of psychotropic substances increased about 20-25 per cent after enforcement of total prohibition in Bihar.

With the government not renewing the license of breweries and distilleries in Bihar from April 1, 2017, thousands are fearing for their employment.

"There are slim chances that our companies will accommodate us anywhere else. After working for almost two decades in this sector, I cannot expect a job elsewhere," says Irshad Akhtar, one of the workers at a liquor manufacturing unit in Bihar.