Bole Chudiyan: ‘Dry’ Bihar’s innovative new plan for old liquor bottles

The Bihar government has decided to use seized liquor bottles to make glass bangles.

Despite being a dry state since 5 April, 2016, many hooch tragedies and the deaths of hundreds have been reported in Bihar, leaving the authorities red-faced.

The move by the Nitish Kumar-led Bihar dispensation is being viewed by some as an attempt to woo women voters.

Notably, Kumar had banned the sale and consumption of liquor in 2016, following the Janta Dal United (JDU) leader’s electoral promise to women ahead of Bihar Assembly polls a year earlier.

Even with the ban in place, lakhs of liquor bottles are seized in Bihar every month and crushed with excavators or other heavy machines.

How will the decision be implemented by the Bihar government? Why are Opposition BJP and hospitality industry people skeptical about the move?

Let’s take a closer look:

What’s the plan?

The Bihar government will construct a factory in the capital city Patna under its Rural Livelihoods Promotion programme, known as JEEViKA.

As per Free Press Journal (FPJ), the Nitish government has come into agreement with a bangle manufacturing unit in Uttar Pradesh, which has been tasked with training Bihar women to make glass bangles.

A team of women has already been dispatched to Uttar Pradesh’s Farrukhabad, the chief executive officer of Livelihood Mission told FPJ.

“Seized illegal liquor bottles during raids were earlier crushed and treated as garbage but now we’ll give these bottles to JEEViKA workers who were trained in making glass bangles. The State Excise and Prohibition department has allocated Rs 1 crore to set up a glass-making factory in Patna and send JEEViKA women for training in bangle-making to other States”, Bihar excise commissioner B Kartikey Dhanji was quoted as saying by The Hindu.

JEEViKA, funded by the World Bank, is a social and economic empowerment programme for the rural poor, which comes under Bihar’s Department of Rural Development.

Dhanji said if the plan succeeds, they will set up more glass bangle-making factories later in other parts of the state.

Moreover, excise officials across Bihar have been asked to take liquor bottles to Patna, the proposed site of the factory, FPJ reported.

Bihar’s liquor tale

After the liquor ban, the illegal liquor trade has flourished in the state with lakhs of bottles being recovered by police officials or the excise department personnel.

As many as 3.7 lakh litres of liquor were seized in more than one lakh raids on those involved in the bootlegged business in August, as per state’s excise department data.

Moreover, 30,000 people were arrested in August alone for disobeying the state’s liquor prohibition law.

Due to overcrowding in jails as a result of its complete prohibition on alcohol, the Bihar government in March passed the Bihar Prohibition and Excise (Amendment) Bill, 2022. The amended law allows those caught consuming liquor to pay a fine before a magistrate to avoid jail time.

If the accused fail to pay the fine, they will be sent to one month’s imprisonment.

However, the relaxed norms are yet to be enforced, ThePrint reported.

BJP opposes move

Bihar BJP chief Sanjay Jaiswal has alleged that chief minister Nitish Kumar will allow liquor smuggling to continue for the raw material (alcohol bottles used for making bangles).

“Nitish Kumar and excise department will pass 9 out of 10 liquor consignments and they will seize one consignment to get the raw materials for the bangles factory. This is the real situation of Bihar where agencies are allowing liquor smuggling to take place here,” Jaiswal was quoted as saying by IANS.

More skepticism

President of the Bihar chapter of PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Satyajit Singh, told ThePrint that even though the step sounds “innovative”, there are other factors that need consideration.

“There are established glass bangle factories in Faizabad, Mumbai, and Hyderabad. Glass constitutes 75 per cent of glass bangles. [But] there are other materials, such as soda and limestone. Will the government provide the factory with these?” he questioned.

“Will the seizure of illegal liquor bottles be enough to run the factory and [will it] be economically viable? And how will JEEViKA workers compete with established glass bangle makers from outside the state — both financially and quality-wise?” ThePrint quoted him as saying.

A businessman in Patna, Alok Gupta, also raised doubts about the economic feasibility of the glass bangle factories.

He told The Hindu that this is a bid by the Nitish Kumar government to attract women voters.

With inputs from agencies

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