“Someone recently said it was my government’s first blunder but the new policy will take care of all its the ramifications”, Mr. Kumar said.
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Without naming BJP, Mr Kumar told newspersons here that his opponents used to claim that the development process had come to a halt during the last few years and the state’s development process had jumped off tracks.
Chief minister Nitish Kumar, Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav and Leader of Opposition Prem Kumar congratulated Choudhary on being elected as the speaker.
” People will say that even after the ban liquor will be sold illegally in the State but if it happens we’ll deal with that strongly”, said Mr. Kumar.
Earlier, Excise and Prohibition Minister Abdul Jalil Mastan said on Friday that Bihar would have a “total” ban on all kinds of liquor starting April 1, 2016 and not just on country-made liquor as some reports had suggested. The state government will now give priority to its seven-point agenda for making a prosperous and developed Bihar, the governor said. “It will be for desi (country-made liquor), videshi (foreign-made liquor) or locally-made liquor”.
According to National Institution for Transforming India (Niti) Aayog Bihar’s growth rate was recorded as 17.6 per cent which was higher than other developed or developing states like Madhya Pradesh and Maharastra. Her plea for a complete ban on liquor found tremendous support from a large number of women who had assembled for the event.
Kumar said the poorest of the poor had been consuming liquor, badly hitting their families and their children’s education.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today said that efforts are on to change the JD(U) symbol from arrow to “Chakra” (wheel) as the party lost many seats due to confusion among the voters over its symbol, which resembled to other parties.
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The excise department went into an overdrive in 2007 following a new policy and started issuing licences for marketing liquor across the state.
