Ahead of an assessment meeting on liquor scheduled on Tuesday, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar reiterated on Monday that people can die if they consume liquor.
"People can die if they consume liquor. It is a bad substance. I don't understand why people drink liquor," Nitish Kumar said while interacting with mediapersons after the 'Janta Darbar' on Monday.
The Chief Minister said that he would interact with every district magistrate, superintendent of police and senior officials of the state at the assessment meeting scheduled on Tuesday. The meeting comes after over 40 persons died in the state after consuming illicit liquor in the past few weeks.
"We will try to find out the loose gaps besides strictly implementing the rules to prevent violations. We will take stringent action against the violators," he said.
The Chief Minister also said that the ban on liquor in the state was imposed with the consent of the opposition leaders in April 2016, but now some people are opposing the same.
"We had imposed the ban on liquor after receiving complaints from women, and the opposition leaders and MLCs had passed the resolution then. After the ban, a large number of people had quit drinking. But some people are still addicted to alcohol and they are the ones indulging in wrongdoings. We will take stringent action against them," Nitish Kumar said.
"We have decided to conduct the assessment meeting on Tuesday to take further decisions in the matter. We are also making efforts to educate the people about the negative consequences of consuming liquor. We have directed the concerned officials to take adequate measures in their respective jurisdictions. People involved in illicit liquor trade will be punished," he said.
Meanwhile, Tejashwi Yadav, the leader of opposition in the Bihar Assembly, said: "He (Nitish Kumar) used to hold high-level meetings with the same officials and ministers. What change has he made? Liquor tragedies keep occuring in Bihar with people losing their lives."
"I firmly believe that the gangs of Nitish Kumar are involved in these incidents," Tejashwi Yadav said while pointing at the Muzaffarpur shelter home sexual assault on minor girls and the latest murder of Rintu Singh Purnea where the family members of the deceased alleged the involvement of cabinet minister Lesi Singh.
"In every case of murder, kidnapping or any other crime, the people of JD-U or the BJP are involved," Tejashwi Yadav said.
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