Nitish Kumar-Medha Patkar prohibition campaign fails to address social reform need, may "criminalize" social drinkers

Medha Patkar with Nitish Kumar

Counterview Desk
Even as well-known social activist Medha Patkar's Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) is running a full-blown anti-liquor campaign in the Narmada valley, eliciting the support of Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar (click HERE), at least two of her top supports, both activist-experts, have suggested that there is something fundamentally wrong with the new prohibition fad which has gripped parts of India.
Writer-activist Nandini Oza, who has been associated with the anti-Narmada dam campaign of NBA, has particularly taken strong exception to Bihar’s anti-liquor Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016, considered by Patkar-inspired Nasha Mukti Bharat Andolan as saying it “ideal for the country”, saying, its severe punitive actions are “draconian.”
Writing in her blog, Oza says, “In a society, to consider substance abuse by an individual as a grievous criminal offence punishable by long imprisonment will be detrimental to both the individual as well as the society at large. This fact is well established by social work research and studies.”
Pointing to how the Bihar law is being pushed not only by the Government in Bihar, but also by “a number of leading social movements”, promoting it as a “model law that should be implemented across the entire country”, Oza refers to “serious issues with the law” which were struck down by the Patna High Court on September 30 as it would “bring in a virtual police-raj in the state.”

"The new law which was notified after this High Court judgement, unfortunately, has similar draconian provisions”, regrets Oza, “By studying carefully the Act and the judgement of the Bihar High Court on the Act, one feels that a whole community, the whole family including women and children, already aggrieved by a substance abuser in the family, could be further punishable under this Act.”
Oza insists, “Social awareness, social support and social as well as economic reform measures are required to check socially undesirable behaviour relating to addiction and substance abuse, rather than severe punitive actions aimed at the addict.”
According to Oza, who happens to hail from a state where prohibition was long implemented, Gujarat, the punishments “for possession, consumption, storage or transportation of even small quantity of alcohol” under the law have “no scope whatsoever for warning, correction, mitigation, reformation, rehabilitation and probation of an addict or a person in possession of alcohol or other intoxicating substances.”
“Along with the addicts, it criminalizes social drinkers as well”, she points out, adding, “Worse still, it has the scope of considering the family of an addict criminal, too, with strict punishments! It has severe provisions like arrest without warrant, confiscation of premises, sealing of premises, etc. where any crime under this act is said to have been committed.”
“Furthermore”, she says, “It has the provision of collective fine for the 'wrong doing' of individual/ individuals in an area and the whole community living there could be held responsible for repeat offenses under the act. Besides, a lot of powers are given to the collector and even the police.”
“It is important to note that after the enforcement of this Act, twelve people have died after drinking spurious alcohol in Gopalganj, Bihar”, says Oza, adding, “A very large number of people, around thirteen thousand including women have already been jailed in the State of Bihar.”
Referring to Oza's blog, another top Patkar protagonist, Shripad Dharmadhikary, who heads Manthan Adhyayan Kendra in Badwani, Madhya Pradesh, says there is enough reason for a “review” of the Bihar law, adding, “While the debate on prohibition (of liquor) as a way to address the social evils of drinking is an old one, the recent law enacted by Bihar brings a new urgency to the debate.”
He further says, “On one hand, the law has draconian provisions of punishment and unbridled powers to the state apparatus; on the other hand, leading social movements are supporting it, even arguing that this be the model for the rest of the country. This is clearly a cause for concern.”

Comments

Plastic burning in homes threatens food, water and air across Global South: Study

By Jag Jivan In a groundbreaking study spanning 26 countries across the Global South , researchers have uncovered the widespread and concerning practice of households burning plastic waste as a fuel for cooking, heating, and other domestic needs. The research, published in Nature Communications , reveals that this hazardous method of managing both waste and energy poverty is driven by systemic failures in municipal services and the unaffordability of clean alternatives, posing severe risks to human health and the environment.

Economic superpower’s social failure? Inequality, malnutrition and crisis of India's democracy

By Vikas Meshram India may be celebrated as one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, but a closer look at who benefits from that growth tells a starkly different story. The recently released World Inequality Report 2026 lays bare a country sharply divided by wealth, privilege and power. According to the report, nearly 65 percent of India’s total wealth is owned by the richest 10 percent of its population, while the bottom half of the country controls barely 6.4 percent. The top one percent—around 14 million people—holds more than 40 percent, the highest concentration since 1961. Meanwhile, the female labour force participation rate is a dismal 15.7 percent.

The greatest threat to our food system: The aggressive push for GM crops

By Bharat Dogra Thanks to the courageous resistance of several leading scientists who continue to speak the truth despite increasing pressures from the powerful GM crop and GM food lobby , the many-sided and in some contexts irreversible environmental and health impacts of GM foods and crops, as well as the highly disruptive effects of this technology on farmers, are widely known today.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Stands 'exposed': Cavalier attitude towards rushed construction of Char Dham project

By Bharat Dogra* The nation heaved a big sigh of relief when the 41 workers trapped in the under-construction Silkyara-Barkot tunnel (Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand) were finally rescued on November 28 after a 17-day rescue effort. All those involved in the rescue effort deserve a big thanks of the entire country. The government deserves appreciation for providing all-round support.

'Restructuring' Sahitya Akademi: Is the ‘Gujarat model’ reaching Delhi?

By Prakash N. Shah* A fortnight and a few days have slipped past that grim event. It was as if the wedding preparations were complete and the groom’s face was about to be unveiled behind the ceremonial tinsel. At 3 PM on December 18, a press conference was poised to announce the Sahitya Akademi Awards .

The war on junk food: Why India must adopt global warning labels

By Jag Jivan The global health landscape is witnessing a decisive shift toward aggressive regulation of the food industry, a movement highlighted by two significant policy developments shared by Dr. Arun Gupta of the Nutrition Advocacy for Public Interest (NAPi).

The illusion of nuclear abundance: Why NTPC’s expansion demands public scrutiny

By Shankar Sharma* The recent news that NTPC is scouting 30 potential sites across India for a massive nuclear power expansion should be a wake-up call for every citizen. While the state-owned utility frames this as a bold stride toward a 100,000 MW nuclear capacity by 2047, a cold look at India’s nuclear saga over the last few decades suggests this ambition may be more illusory than achievable. More importantly, it carries implications that could fundamentally alter the safety, environment, and economic health of our communities.

Epic war against caste system is constitutional responsibility of elected government

Edited by well-known Gujarat Dalit rights leader Martin Macwan, the book, “Bhed-Bharat: An Account of Injustice and Atrocities on Dalits and Adivasis (2014-18)” (available in English and Gujarati*) is a selection of news articles on Dalits and Adivasis (2014-2018) published by Dalit Shakti Prakashan, Ahmedabad. Preface to the book, in which Macwan seeks to answer key questions on why the book is needed today: *** The thought of compiling a book on atrocities on Dalits and thus present an overall Indian picture had occurred to me a long time ago. Absence of such a comprehensive picture is a major reason for a weak social and political consciousness among Dalits as well as non-Dalits. But gradually the idea took a different form. I found that lay readers don’t understand numbers and don’t like to read well-researched articles. The best way to reach out to them was storytelling. As I started writing in Gujarati and sharing the idea of the book with my friends, it occurred to me that while...

Search This Blog