Nitish liquor ban draws rich praise from Gandhians

The Nitish Kumar government's decision to clamp total prohibition in Bihar drew praise from Gandhians today who strongly condemned some governments making "backdoor arrangements" like denotifying highways to avoid the Supreme Court order on no liquor outlets within 500 metre of NHs/SHs.
In his welcome address at the two-day "Rashtriya Vimarsh" (National discussion) on the occasion of the centenary of Champaran Satyagraha, Nitish Kumar said complete prohibition decision was inspired by Bapu's strong aversion to alcohol.
Kumar was critical of some state governments making "backdoor arrangements" like denotifying highways to avoid the Supreme Court order banning liquor outlets within 500 metre of highways.

"What a time has come...Are they governing or busy manipulating to circumvent the Apex Court's decision on liquor ban on NHs/SHs...This is really disgusting," Kumar said.
The Bihar CM said, while a state like Rajasthan is worried about losing Rs 6700 crore annually by imposing liquor ban he did not bother about it.
"I did not bother about the state losing Rs 5000 core a year due to liquor ban at the cost of people's health," Kumar said.

"After an year we see that Bihar has in fact gained Rs 10,000 crore as people are spending on healthy items with money saved from not buying alcohol," Kumar said.

"There could have been no better time to launch complete prohibition in the state than 100 years celebration of Gandhiji's Champaran Satyagraha and 350 Prakash Parva of Sikh Guru Govind Singh," he said.
Gandhiji's grandson and former West Bengal Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi, Gandhians like Justice (Retd) Chandrasekhar Dharmadhikari, Justice (Retd) Rajendra Sachar, S N Subba Rao, Sachidanand Sinha, Medha Patkar and Prerna Desai who had congregated here praised Nitish Kumar's decision to ban liquor.
Justice (Retd) Chandrasekhar Dharmadhikari also praised Bihar's decision on liquor ban.
"Today, those violating laws draw more respect than those following them," the prominent Gandhian said.

Medha Patkar known for launching "Narmada Bachao" agitation in Gujarat lauded Nitish Kumar's "strong will" in imposing prohibition which she said should be emulated elsewhere too.