Alcoholism is a big problem for society. It hurts poor people more, since a combination of poverty and alcoholism is a social disaster. Men who turn into alcoholism often lose their jobs due to negligence; face financial problems and when their wives nag them about it, they turn to violence. Looking at the socio-economic issues, the decision of CM Nitish Kumar to ban production, sale and consumption of liquor in Bihar was hailed as a good decision. But few years down the line and the decision has turned totally upside down. Here is how.
People from the ground level can tell that liquor is still available in most places, only it went underground and turned costlier. There are no shops selling it openly, but the local alcoholics know where to find it. Alcoholics are able to drink daily or whenever they want. But they have to pay more than the normal price. For example, what they got for Rs 90 earlier, costs Rs 300 now.
This situation is causing a lot of problems. The people involved in illegal liquor sale have become very rich and it has created a negative impact on others who have seen their fortunes changed due to this illegal business. Why do hard work for 12 hours a day when you can just smuggle illegal liquor and earn a year's salary in a week or a month? At the same time, the poor people and their families who suffered due to alcoholism earlier, are still suffering since the ban on liquor is ineffective.
The Police is busy raiding illegal liquor shops and arresting people involved every day. But the menace and nexus is too big to root out. So you would find some news about raids and arrests in daily news papers. But for every arrested man, there would be thousands of others making the business run.
Looking at the situation, sometimes it seems removing the ban and resorting to educating and rehabilitating the drunkards may be a better method to deal with alcoholism.
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