When Nitish Kumar first came to power in 2005 with the help of the BJP, his Government implemented the existing liquor policy, doubling the number of liquor licenses issued. As a result, liquor began to be sold in streets, colonies and even ration shops. The liquor shops began to mushroom even in the restricted areas surrounding schools, religious places and residential areas. While the closed sugar mills remain shut, land suited for agriculture was given away to liquor barons like Vijay Mallya to open liquor factories. AIPWA and several other women organisations started campaigns and movements demanding liquor ban. CPI (ML) along with several other left parties has been raising the demand of the complete liquor ban. The liquor is not only engulfing an entire generation of youth, it also aggravating domestic violence against women.
Ten years later, during the 2015 assembly elections, Nitish Kumar declared that if he came to power again he would implement a complete liquor ban. After being re-elected with a complete majority, he declared that a complete liquor ban would be effected from 1 April. However, after the liquor mafia started exerting pressure, the government began talking about a stage-wise ban, with a ban first being effected on illegal and local liquor and only later on foreign liquor.
AIPWA organised a state-wide demonstrations and marches from 28 to 29 December, raising slogans like- “Stop fooling people, implement complete liquor ban”, “stop the farce of stage wise liquor ban”, “we want employment, not liquor”, “stop harassing poor in villages in the name of liquor ban”. In several places, the marches were followed by meetings which were addressed AIPWA leaders.
