Nitish Kumar takes U-turn on liquor sale in Bihar, issues tender for government shops

BSBCL issued a series of tenders in which applications have been invited to open government liquor shops, with a twist — they will only be able to sell foreign liquor. Earlier this month, Nitish have planned to ban all liquor shops by April 2016.

Written by: Saurav Mukherjee

Updated: December 17, 2015, 8:29 PM IST

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https://www.india.com/news/india/nitish-kumar-takes-u-turn-on-liquor-sale-in-bihar-issues-tender-for-government-shops-793585/ Copy

Patna, December 17: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar took a reverse turn on the pre-poll promise of banning all the liquor shops in the state. In the latest tender released by the Bihar government’s Bihar State Beverage Corporation Ltd issued a series of tenders in which applications have been invited to open government liquor shops, with a twist — they will only be able to sell foreign liquor.

The latest announcement comes as a shock to some of the political gurus, who see the development as measure to boost the economy using harmful means. According to the tenders released by the BSBCL, the state has invited applications for opening of government shops in the lands provided by the contractors with special provisions like 2 CCTV cameras, table, chairs, storage facility, pick up vans, electric connections, bathrooms among others. The only hurdle for the applicants is that they would not be able to sell Desi (Country-made) liquor. (ALSO READ: Bihar to become dry state: Nitish Kumar says working on law to ban liquor in state from April 2016)

Earlier, Nitish Kumar have said that that if their government comes to power they would ban all the liquor shops effective from April, 2016. But, looking at Rs 4,000 crore revenue generated from the taxes annually, the excise department led by minister Abdul Jalil Mastan did not take any chance and uplifted the ban. Earlier this month only he had said, “We will impose a liquor ban in Bihar. It will be for desi (country-made liquor), videshi (foreign-made liquor) or locally-made liquor. We are yet to finalise the modalities for a liquor ban in the state. But, it will be a total ban.”

With the latest U-turn by Nitish Kumar government in Bihar, voters are little bit confused. Though the Chief Minister states that this initiative has been taken in order to generate more employment opportunities, the move is unlikely to get a warm welcome among the residents of Bihar. But, till now lets look at what the tender says. (ALSO READ: Chennai Floods: Madras High Court turns down plea to shut liquor shops)