Two years after introducing a ban on liquor in the state, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said that his government will introduce an amendment to the Liquor Prohibition Act in the upcoming monsoon session.
The Chief Minister said that while the ban had brought significant improvement to the social condition of the state, there were still some gaps and loopholes allowing for people to abuse the law. The upcoming amendment, he said, would end the scope for abuse of the law.
"I have just learned about the deaths of four persons in Begusarai. Investigations have revealed that they consumed surgical spirit, which is rubbed on the arm before an injection is administered. There are some people in our society who indulge in illicit liquor trade," Nitish said at a function organised by the Economic Offences Unit (EOU) of the Bihar police on International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on Tuesday.
"Such incidents are not the failure of prohibition, but a result of the polluted mentality of a few persons. Our officers should publicise such incidents so that people could take a lesson and refrain from consuming alcohol," he added.
Further talking about the plans to raise the issue in the monsoon session of the state assembly, Kumar said: "We have Supreme Court's consent to rectify the law. A team has formed to properly analyse the details of prohibition. The sole aim is to impose prohibition in a proper manner so that people get benefited from it."
He did not go into details of what the amendment was, and how it would affect the system in place. The Nitish Kumar lead government introduced the liquor ban in April 2016 as a means of controlling domestic violence.
With the introduction of the ban, many people in the state have taken to other forms of alcohol, leading the several deaths over the years.
[With inputs from ANI]
