Bihar, Prohibition, Carlsberg and Broken Promises โ A Thread
Disclaimer 1: I, in no way, intend to promote liquor consumption
Disclaimer 2: I am, in no way, telling People in Bihar to flout the prohibition laws.
Thread Begins
Disclaimer 1: I, in no way, intend to promote liquor consumption
Disclaimer 2: I am, in no way, telling People in Bihar to flout the prohibition laws.
Thread Begins
Coming from an Upper caste Upper middle class Bihari family, I have seen how Liquor is frowned upon in Bihar. Barring those of politicians, big businessmen and Bahubalis, even the biggest marriages in Bihar didnโt have Bars.
โSharabis (Alcoholics)โ are considered ones who have scant regard for their families or are plain outlaws.
But everyone who drinks is not a Sharabi. In fact, most people who consume liquor are occasional drinkers but look forward to drinking liquor with great anticipation.
But everyone who drinks is not a Sharabi. In fact, most people who consume liquor are occasional drinkers but look forward to drinking liquor with great anticipation.
Liquor is more of a lifestyle thing. Consider an IT Professional, who works with colorless codes every day. He has some office buddies. Every weekend or alternate weekend, they sit down together in a bar and enjoy a round of beers over crispy munchies.
Monday onwards, the same working with colorless codes resumes.
Would this IT professional be considered a Sharabi? I think not. He would be considered a person who looks forward to other things in life after a tiring week of work.
Would this IT professional be considered a Sharabi? I think not. He would be considered a person who looks forward to other things in life after a tiring week of work.
I can say this with utmost confidence because I have lived this life for most of my IT career that roughly lasted a decade. :-)
So, when Nitish Kumar decided to ban Liquor in Bihar, the occasional drinkers were the ones who suffered the most, which brings me to the regular Sharabis. Regular Sharabis can be categorized into two broad subcategories.
First, the regular Sharabis who have money and muscle and second, the feeble regular Sharabis.
Are the regular Sharabis with money and muscle still drinking? The answer is a resounding yes.
Are the regular Sharabis with money and muscle still drinking? The answer is a resounding yes.
They get liquor because they have contacts, and they can afford liquor because they have money. Are the the feeble regular Sharabis still drinking? The answer is a yes again. They have switched to country liquor. The only ones not drinking are the occasional drinkers.
Nitish Kumar banned the sale and consumption of Liquor of Bihar to โhelpโ poor women, male members of whose families were wasting money on liquor. But as previously explained. They are still drinking and now they are dying too.
This year alone, more than 95 deaths due to consumption of spurious liquor were reported from across the state.
The biggest hooch tragedy of the year was reported from West Champaran district in July in which over 16 people lost their lives, followed by 11 deaths in November in Gopalganj.
The state police headquarter further added that a total of 12,93,229 litres of country-made and 25,79,415 litres of foreign-made liquor were seized in the last 9 months. This is all government data btw. Real numbers are probably higher.
The National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) 2019-20 came up with some shocking numbers. Bihar, despite being a dry state, consumes more liquor than Maharashtra. Liquor consumption was higher in rural areas than in urban Bihar, which again proves my theory.
In 2016, Michael Jensen, CEO of Carlsberg India, had termed India as the most difficult market in the world. Jensen experienced firsthand how politics can turn thriving businesses into a heap of garbage.
Nitish Kumar had wooed Carlsberg to invest in the state and sealed a deal of $25 million plant in Diyara area near Patna in 2014. Bihar has a lot of water, open lands, Sunlight and barley.
Bihar is well connected to all parts of India. Carlsberg was the first foreign company to tap into the untapped potential of Bihar. Carlsberg had promised jobs to locals. It had promised to assist Bihar Government in setting up riverside resorts, shacks and food joints.
The Carlsberg plant would have attracted other big players to invest in Bihar. Bihar could have become Indiaโs first river tourism destination. It would have provided taxes to the government and jobs to locals, but Nitish Kumar decided to keep Bihar poor to win an election.
In the words of Jensen, "It was a sizeable market and investment, but they decided to do prohibition in 12 hours, forcing us to consider pulling out, since there was no backup plan for this unexpected move.โ
The existing breweries in Bihar e.g.- Diageo Plc, United Breweries and Molson Coors were forced to move out. Biharโs economy tumbled furthermore.
Bihar prohibition has crippled the tourism and hospitality sector in Bihar. Most companies have moved their events to nearby Jharkhand. IT companies donโt wish to invest in Bihar because it knows IT engineers need and deserve breaks.
Prohibition in Bihar has helped only Nitish Kumar. Everyone else has lost.
Loading suggestions...