New Delhi, Dec 6 : The Confederation of Indian Alcoholic Beverage Companies (CIABC) has urged the Bihar government to end liquor ban in the state claiming that the move would boost state economy, end unlawful trade of poor quality alcohol, and avert hooch tragedies.
Welcoming the Manipur government’s move to lift the ban on liquor in the state, CIABC said that Bihar government should also follow suit and lift prohibition which has crippled the growth and development of Bihar and led to so many deaths due to hooch tragedies.
“Bihar is paying a heavy price of the prohibition policy in the form of proliferation of unlawful and spurious liquor, hooch tragedies, rise of crime syndicates and loss of legitimate Government revenues.
Bihar’s growth and development has been affected as the state is losing out on revenue from the legitimate liquor trade which is estimated at around Rs. 10,000 crore per annum,” said CIABC Director General Vinod Giri.
He further said that repeated hooch tragedies have so far seen over 300 deaths since 2016, close to 5 lakh cases are pending in courts clogging justice delivery system, and around 3 lakh people have been put behind bars for something which the rest of the country finds perfectly lawful.
“Liquor mafia has been thriving in the state. Keeping all these aspects in mind, we have been urging the Bihar government to end prohibition and open up liquor trade in the state in a responsible manner,” said Giri.