Prohibition effect: 150 persons go to jail every day in  Bihar

It has made the conditions in the prisons worse than it was before 2016 when it was not dry. It explodes the myth created by the government that the new policy has changed the habits of people in general and improved law and order situation.

The old jail inmates have raised much hue and cry against it because now they have been virtually packed like sardines .

The move may not be economically prudent but politically it is suited to him. The promise to ban liquor consumption in the state if he is voted back to power has helped him regain the position and, therefore, the overcrowding is unlikely to make him change the policy. In most of other states including communist-ruled Kerala partial prohibition has been imposed in view of these after- effects.

Whatever may be his thinking on the subject , the fact is that more than 66,000 persons have been arrested and sent to jail in connection with ban on sale, purchase and consumption of liquor in the state since April 1,2016. And these figures have been dished out not by any opposition leader but by the state excise department. Among the arrested were some women, his new constituency.

During the same period, more than five lakh liters of country liquor has been seized. The country liquor seized was either manufactured locally or illegally imported from neighbouring states which are not dry.

In addition, 7.90 lakh liters of foreign liquor have been recovered from possession in different districts of the state. The foreign liquor was largely smuggled into the state from Haryana where it is cheaper.

It nails the theory that consumption has registered a marked fall in recent months.