 "Alcohol association welcomes Manipur's move to lift prohibition on liquor")
Welcoming the Manipur government’s move to lift the ban on liquor, the Confederation of Indian Alcoholic Beverage Companies (CIABC), the apex body of the Indian alcoholic beverages industry, has once again urged the Bihar government to end prohibition to boost its economy, end the unlawful trade of poor-quality alcohol in the state and avert hooch tragedies.
“By ending the over three-decade-long prohibition, the Manipur government has taken a positive step forward which would not only earn Rs 600-700 crore as annual tax revenues, but also help tackle the menace of the sale of illegal liquor and the spread of drugs. It is going to give a major fillip to the state’s economic growth,” said CIABC Director General Vinod Giri.
CIABC said that the Bihar Government should also follow suit and lift prohibition which has crippled the growth and development of the state and led to many deaths due to hooch tragedies.
“Bihar is paying a heavy price for the prohibition policy in the form of the proliferation of unlawful and spurious liquor, hooch tragedies, the rise of crime syndicates, and loss of legitimate Government revenues," said Giri.
He said 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.
"Repeated hooch tragedies have so far seen over 300 deaths since 2016, close to 500,000 cases are pending in courts clogging the justice delivery system, and around 300,000 people have been put behind bars for something which the rest of the country finds perfectly lawful," the CIABC director general said.