Nitish Kumar warns of crackdown against illicit breweries in Bihar

"I don't think prohibition (on alcohol) is a practical idea," he said, while reply to the debate on the Governor's speech in the state legislative assembly.

People will find ways to buy liquor through other sources and consume it and the illicit liquor industry will mushroom to play havoc with people's lives, Kumar said.

He recalled how former chief Minister Karpuri Thakur had imposed prohibition in the 1970s, but the measure failed to have desired result on checking consumption of liquor.

It will be more beneficial if the liquor business was regulated properly and deterrent measures taken to reduce consumption of liquor by the people and destroy the illicit liquor business that was worth several thousand crores of rupees.

Among various measures, the state government has hiked the cost of liquor and imposed cess on it to make it dearer for the consumers, besides a decision has been taken not to issue any more licences to open liquor shops, the CM said.

Decrying the opposition's charge that the excise department has allowed liquor shops to come up in villages and panchayats to ensure liberal consumption of the beverages, Kumar said that altogether 5555 licences have been issued for liquor vendors out of which 5163 licences have set up shops in the entire state.

It has

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