Bihar imposes complete ban on sale of liquor

Patna, April 5 (IANS) The Bihar government on Tuesday imposed a complete ban on sale of any kind of liquor in the state.

“Liquor will not be sold in any bar, pub or hotel from now onwards. We are placing a complete ban on its sale in the state. Women and kids have created an environment in favour of this ban,” Chief Minister Nitish Kumar told reporters here.

The state assembly last week passed a law banning sale of country-made liquor, but the chief minister announced that a ban would be in place on sale of Indian-made foreign liquor too.

“Only the army cantonments which are run with their own rules will continue to have liquor served,” the chief minister added.

“The ban will be in place with immediate effect, and the government will issue a notification in this regard in some time,” Kumar said.

He said the government will provide better employment opportunities to those who are rendered jobless due to the liquor ban.

The chief minister added that the government will create other avenues of income for sectors that are likely to get affected after imposition of the ban.

With the move, Bihar becomes the fourth state after Nagaland, Manipur and Gujarat where sale of any kind liquor is completely banned.