NEW DELHI: Calls for a rethink of Bihar’s decade-old liquor ban have resurfaced within the ruling alliance, with NDA allies urging chief minister Nitish Kumar to review the policy. Union minister Jitan Ram Manjhi said the principle of prohibition was not flawed but its implementation had gone awry. “We have been saying for a long time that the liquor policy is not wrong, and prohibition should be implemented. However, there are flaws in its implementation,” he said.”In our state, the enforcement officers catch those very people, while those who do large-scale smuggling are being let off after taking money. Nitish Kumar should take action. Prohibition is causing significant financial losses to the Bihar government, and Nitish Kumar should address this,” Manjhi told ANI “Prohibition is causing significant financial losses to the Bihar government, and Nitish Kumar should address this,” Manjhi said, urging stricter action against corruption in enforcement.The ban, introduced in 2016 when Nitish Kumar was heading the Mahagathbandhan government, has led to more than 8.43 lakh cases and nearly 12.8 lakh arrests, as per an earlier report by TOI. Yet concerns over revenue have intensified. Before prohibition, Bihar earned over Rs 3,000 crore annually from liquor sales. With fresh welfare commitments likely to cost upwards of Rs 28,000 crore — including direct cash transfers to women, higher pensions and electricity subsidies — the state’s stretched finances have prompted murmurs within the NDA about whether the ban is sustainable. Bihar’s fiscal deficit stood at 9.2% of GSDP last year.Rashtriya Lok Morcha MLA Madhav Anand, also an NDA ally, called in the Assembly for a “detailed review” of the law. “It is 10 years since the prohibition law was enacted… An assessment should be made as to what we have gained and lost in the last ten years,” he said, claiming liquor remained available through home delivery and that drug use among youths had risen.
