Prohibition Law Being Misused by Certain People: Nitish Kumar

Patna, Jun 5 (PTI) Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today said that provisions of prohibition law were being misused by certain people in the government machinery and a solution to the problem would be found by reviewing these.

At a function of the JD(U) here, he, however, said prohibition had indeed "hurt some people but benefited 90 per cent of the population in the state”.

“This has brought back happiness in the homes of the poor and created an atmosphere of peace and harmony, free from domestic strife," he said.

“Nevertheless, we keep reviewing our policies. There have been complaints of misuse of the prohibition law and allegations of involvement of those in the government machinery. This problem too would be solved after a review," he said.

He said, “The people who have been badly hit by prohibition are making all kinds of analyses and saying so many things”, in an apparent reference to criticisms by opposition parties, particularly former chief minister and Hindustani Awam Morcha founder Jitan Ram Manjhi who recently quit the ruling NDA and joined the RJD-Congress combine.

Manjhi has been alleging that mostly people from the deprived sections were being hauled up under the prohibition law.

Kumar also said, “A survey is being done of the people who have faced a problem of livelihood because of prohibition and a number of rehabilitation schemes are being implemented for them."

Sale and consumption of alcohol was completely banned in Bihar by Kumar two years ago in keeping with a promise he had made to the state's electorate, especially women, during the Assembly elections in 2015.

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