Bihar will will ban sales of alcohol starting April 1, 2016,Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced on Thursday. The chief minister made the announcement at an official function to mark Prohibition Day here. The Bihar liquor ban was a key campaign promise Nitish Kumar had made in the run-up to the Bihar elections.

1. Nitish Kumar announces liquor ban in
Bihar from April 2016
Bihar will will ban sales of alcohol starting April 1, 2016,Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced
on Thursday.
The chief minister made the announcement at an official function to mark Prohibition Day here.
The Bihar liquor ban was a key campaign promise Nitish Kumar had made in the run-up to the
Bihar elections.
He said the poorest of the poor had been consuming liquor, badly hitting their families and their
children's education.
Increasing liquor consumption was also a major cause for domestic violence, particularly
against women, and had contributed to a rise in crimes.
"Women are suffering more than anyone else due to increasing liquor consumption," he said.
An official at the chief minister's office said Nitish Kumar took the decision after a high-level
meeting with officials here In July, Nitish Kumar had declared that prohibition would be
imposed if he retained power in the Assembly elections.
Bihar Excise and Prohibition Minister Abdul Jalil Mastan had earlier said that the state
government would soon take steps to impose a liquor ban.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sushil Kumar Modi on Wednesday vowed to support a liquor
ban.
The decision is expected to derail the government's financial health.

2. The excise department went into an overdrive in 2007 following a new policy and started
issuing licences for marketing liquor across the state.
The revenue collection of excise department registered a more than 10-fold jump, from Rs.319
crore in 2005-06 to Rs.3,650 crore in 2014-15.
Article Source: Business Standard.