Prohibition to continue, come what may: CM

Patna: Bihar CM Nitish Kumar on Wednesday reiterated his firm commitment to enforcing total prohibition in the state. "There is no question of going back, whatever may be the consequences," he stated on his Facebook page.
Nitish said implementing total prohibition was a tough task. "What sets the liquor prohibition apart is that no one in the past has been able to deliver it totally.The liquor lobby cheers to this one fact more than anyone else. I am determined to change this track record of public policy," he said.
Referring to his deliberations with the Jeevika's self-help group (SHG) members at the nine divisional headquarters, Nitish said their narrations of personal experiences and efforts opened a whole new dimension to the administrative decision. The seeds of a deep-seated social transformation were sprouting in Bihar like never before. "I reaffirmed to myself that there is no going back, whatever may be the consequence. Experiencing the socioeconomic benefits and outcomes, I am more than determined to implement the total prohibition in Bihar in true letter and spirit," Nitish said.
Defending the new prohibition law which the main opposition BJP has termed as 'draconian', Nitish said, "The new law makes the violators directly accountable for their actions. The Bill states that in case liquor is found or consumed in anyone's home, an adult member from the family (man-wife & dependent children occupying the house, not relatives) will be presumed to have knowledge about the offence, unless proved otherwise. The Bill, rather, protects the women of the household from a male adult who wishes to pin the blame away from him to any other member of family. Those criticizing may care to advise as to the person to be arrested if, in a house, bottles of liquor are recovered and no member of the family owns it. They should also enlighten us who should be arrested in a case if the house is in the name of the wife. Should the police either return empty-handed or commit a further travesty of justice by arresting the wife, knowing fully well that in almost all the cases, it is the husband who drinks."
Attacking opposition members for uninformed criticism of his government on the new prohibition law, the chief minister further said one would have to go into the details to come up with an informed criticism.