6th year into prohibition, Bihar begins a social audit of liquor ban impact

Nearly six years since total prohibition was imposed in Bihar, the state’s excise and prohibition department has initiated an exercise to conduct a social audit of the impact of liquor ban on the lives of women and people in general and has assigned the job to Chanakya Law University (CLU) in Patna, officials familiar with the matter said.

The panchayati raj chair at the CLU, which has been given the responsibility, has prepared a questionnaire of around 75 points to get feedback from the people, which includes behaviour of men towards their wives after the liquor ban, incidents of domestic violence, safety of women outdoors and if women are now more interested in making their presence felt in panchayats.

The questionnaire also seeks to know if manufacturers and suppliers of liquor have found alternatives or shifted to another vocation or are still unemployed.

The university will soon be sending altogether 32 researchers to the districts to collect primary information from the target social groups.

“The university has also planned two-day training of the researchers before they are sent to the districts. It will be held in the state capital on January 27 and on 28,” said SP Singh, in charge of the panchayati raj chair at the university and coordinator of the research project.

“Almost six years have elapsed since the ban. It’s time now to find out what kind of impact it had over the lives here. The department of excise and prohibition has taken initiative and the panchayati raj chair at Chanakya Law University has been asked to conduct a social survey,” he said.

The university has also engaged AN Sinha Research Institute for the project and signed an MoU, Singh said.

“Work on the social audit will begin once the training of the researchers is over. They will select one or two panchayats in the district and will be visiting door to door to collect information,” he said.

Singh said focus will be on the districts which share borders with Jharkhand, Nepal and West Bengal, from where most of the liquor is smuggled into the state. Districts like East Champaran, Kishanganj, Araria, Katihar, Buxar, Nawada, Jamui and Patna are considered sensitive zones from this point of view, he said.

“The report of this survey will be submitted to the excise and prohibition department after two months,” he said.

Apart from conducting social survey, the university’s panchayati raj chair has also been asked to make recommendations on how to improve the implementation strategies of liquor ban.

Probing prohibition

The survey

The survey will be undertaken by the panchayati raj chair at Chanakya Law University, which has also engaged AN Sinha Research Institute for the project. In all, 32 researchers will go to districts to collect primary information from target social groups.

Report in 2 months

After a two-day training in the state capital, researchers will select one or two panchayats in each district and will be visiting door to door to collect information. The report of the survey will be submitted to the excise and prohibition department after two months.

Key questions

The questionnaire has 75 points, which includes behaviour of men towards their wives after the liquor ban, incidents of domestic violence, safety of women outdoors and if women are now more interested in making their presence felt in panchayats.

Areas in focus

Districts which share borders with Jharkhand, Nepal and West Bengal, from where most of the liquor is smuggled into the state — like East Champaran, Kishanganj, Araria, Katihar, Buxar, Nawada, Jamui. State capital Patna too figures among sensitive zones.