No alcohol in Bihar rule will brew trouble for Nitish Kumar
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has always professed to be a leader who lives up to his promises. That is why it came as no surprise when he announced prohibition in the state from the next fiscal year.
In the run-up to the Assembly elections, Nitish had made a promise to a women’s self-help group that he would enforce prohibition if he came back to power again. Apparently, the chief minister’s resolve was the fallout of the prolonged protests by the women who had been up in arms against the mushrooming of liquor vends across the state, particularly in the villages, during his tenure. Nitish must have felt their growing anger against his government’s decision to promote the sale of booze in a big way to shore up its revenue in his previous two terms.
The 64-year-old leader had got the mandate of the people in 2005 to ensure the progress of Bihar that had registered no development during the 15 years of the RJD misrule. He obviously had to explore all possible avenues to fill the coffers of the state government. A fresh policy on the sale of alcohol, formulated in 2007, helped his government boost the resources he so desperately needed to launch his ambitious development drive. In the next eight years or so, the revenue generated through liquor sales swelled by more than 12 times to about Rs 4,800 crore now.
The government, however, had claimed that its change in liquor policy was not aimed at promoting the brisk sale of the intoxicant but to rein in the flourishing mafia that had a vice-like grip on its big market. Whatever the reason, the liberal policy resulted in a sharp rise in the number of liquor vends, especially in the interiors of Bihar. Licences for new liquor shops were stopped only after reports of escalating tension over booze sales started pouring in from different villages in the past few years.
Taking cognisance of the incidents of dismantling illegal breweries and liquor kiosks by rural women protesters, Nitish finally delivered the promise that he would enforce prohibition if voted back to power.
However, politically correct it may be, his decision to ban the sale of alcohol is not being considered a financially judicious move for the state is still struggling to generate funds for its massive development agenda. But Nitish insists that he is not concerned about the loss of revenue caused by prohibition since his move will benefit thousands of poor families.
The Nitish government has now decided to implement the liquor ban in a phase-wise manner. From April 1 next year, it will proscribe sale of country-made liquor and shut down all shops in rural areas. Only a handful of retail outlets in urban centres will sell Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) through the Bihar state beverages corporation limited, a state government undertaking. Nitish believes this will result in the closure of 90 per cent of existing liquor shops and pave the way for the total prohibition in the state.
Liquor traders are, however, already up in arms claiming it will affect the four lakh families dependent on liquor business in the state. Nitish is now working out a plan to rehabilitate them by converting the 6,000 liquor outlets into dairy shops selling products of the popular Sudha brand of the Bihar state milk cooperative federation limited.
Nitish’s prohibition plan has generally elicited positive response in the state but questions are being raised over its efficacy. Sceptics are already wondering whether the government would be able check liquor smuggling into Bihar from adjoining states as well as Nepal that shares a porous, international border with the state. These are some of the issues that need to be seriously deliberated upon by the Nitish government before it finalises its next liquor policy.