Under Siege, Nitish plans to tweak prohibition law

TIL Desk/National/Patna/ The occasion was the Yuva Sankalp Sammelan, or the youth conference, organised by the ruling Janata Dal -United in Patna to mark World Environment Day on June 5. Giving the keynote address was Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

In the hour-long speech, Kumar enumerated his achievements, which included the ambitious student credit card and skill-development schemes, promised rule of law and targeted his political rivals.

Then, towards the end, he made an important announcement. Kumar hinted that his government was planning to tweak some of the provisions of the stringent Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016. He, however, didn’t elaborate on the changes he had in mind.

Kumar has been an ardent supporter of prohibition. “The poor and the downtrodden who were earlier engaged in liquor business have been given alternative means of livelihood and they are happy,” he told party workers at the conference.