Nitesh kumar On Toxic Liquor
Toxic Liquor: Nitish Kumar, the chief minister of Bihar, today dismissed the idea of compensating the families of those who died after consuming fake alcohol and suggested that people be “extra alert” because the state has already had alcohol ban since 2016.
The most recent disaster in Saran district resulted in over 30 fatalities, and the JDU-RJD coalition has been criticised by the BJP both inside and outside of the legislature for allegedly being negligent in enforcing prohibition.
“Wo toh marega hi na, jo sharaab peeyega… Peeyoge toh maroge, udaharan saamne hai”. (Those who drank alcohol will undoubtedly pass away. We may use this as an example) In answer to a query in Patna regarding claims for compensation in past cases, Mr. Kumar stated in Hindi.
Nitish Kumar had lost his cool in the Vidhan Sabha over the protests and thrown a “you are drunk” jibe at the BJP members earlier this week.
Today he said grief should indeed be expressed, and then people be made aware by going to the affected places. “We have been running massive social awareness drives.”
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Toxic Liquor Death Toll
He argued that even when there was no prohibition, people died of toxic liquor. “People have died in huge numbers in other states as well,” he added.
There have been similar deaths in Gujarat, another prohibition state, and Punjab in recent years.
“You know what Bapu (Mahatma Gandhi) has said (in favour of prohibition), and what research across the world shows — all of that has been sent to people’s homes — about how liquor is a bad thing, how many people die because of it. People have been dying of toxic (spurious) liquor since long, and it happens across the country,” he said.
“We have taken strict action, but people need to be more vigilant. When there’s prohibition, the liquor being sold will obviously have something wrong in it,” he further said.
“Also, remember, you should not drink liquor anyway. Most people have agreed with the prohibition policy. But some people will make mistakes,” he argued.
Minister Sunil Kumar has, meanwhile, said the government will take strict action against those responsible for the deaths.
Bihar is one of two big states other being Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state Gujarat that have prohibition . Nagaland and Mizoram have similar policies with some exceptions.
Over the decades, states like Kerala in the south and Haryana in the north have tried the policy but had to lift it mostly because
