Even as CM Nitish Kumar’s government is fighting tooth and nail to enforce prohibition in Bihar, West Bengal’s CM Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday gave a green signal to clubs and hotels to serve liquor 365 days a year in her state and reduced the number of annual dry days to four and half instead of 12.
According to a report in The Huffington Post, the sate government will now restrict the dry days to Independence Day, Republic Day,the tenth day of Muharram, Dol Jatra until 2:00 pm and Gandhi Jayanti.
Industrialists have hailed the state government’s decision as “pragmatic” in the light of the festive season, The Telegraph reported.
“Fewer dry days would not have much revenue impact… At most, the state’s earning would go up by around Rs 100 crore. But what’s important in the announcement is a change in attitude and that’s encouraging,” a liquor industry veteran told The Telegraph.
Currently, liquor ban is enforced in Bihar, Gujarat, Mizoram and Nagaland.