The Promise and Reality of Prohibition in Bihar
In April 2016, the Bihar state government instituted a total ban on the manufacture, sale, storage, and consumption of alcohol. The decision was heralded as a historic social welfare measure, driven largely by grassroots mobilization among women who argued that widespread alcohol abuse was destroying family finances and escalating domestic violence. A decade later, a comprehensive evaluation by economists at the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) presents a sobering verdict: the prohibition regime has largely failed to achieve its core objective of safeguarding women, while creating unintended economic and social complications across the state.
The research paper, titled Macro Perspective of Bihar's Development Achievements, Unfinished Agenda, and the Way Forward, was authored by a team led by economist Ratna Sahay alongside Aakash Dev of NCAER, Santosh Gautam of the University of Notre Dame, and Nishith Prakash of Northeastern University. Presented at the prestigious India Policy Forum, the study examines Bihar's broader socio-economic trajectory and explicitly recommends scrapping the 2016 liquor ban. According to the researchers, available empirical evidence demonstrates that reported crimes against women have not declined since prohibition was enacted. Instead, total recorded offenses against women increased over the post-2016 period, raising fundamental questions about the policy's efficacy as a tool for gender-based protection.
Empirical Findings on Gender Violence and Crime
The primary justification for enacting prohibition was the hypothesis that restricting liquor availability would directly translate into safer homes and reduced intimate partner violence. However, the NCAER findings indicate that prohibition alone cannot address the deep-rooted structural and patriarchal factors that drive violence against women. Citing long-term data from the National Crime Records Bureau and household surveys, the authors observe that while Bihar's official rate of recorded violence against women remains lower than the national average, this discrepancy largely reflects systemic under-reporting rather than actual safety.
"We now have sufficient data and information to assess if the ban was effective. Reported crimes against women in Bihar have not declined following the introduction of prohibition. Instead, total reported crimes against women increased over the post-2016 period."
— Excerpt from the NCAER Research Paper
While some independent studies point out that public awareness campaigns following the ban led to higher willingness among victims to report domestic abuse to law enforcement, the overall evidence shows no sustained, broad-based decline in gender-based offenses. Economists argue that relying on prohibition as a proxy for social policy overlooks essential interventions such as institutional gender empowerment, accessible legal aid, police sensitization, and robust support infrastructure for survivors of violence.
The Fiscal Toll and Economic Trade-offs
Beyond its failure to curb violence against women, prohibition has inflicted significant damage on Bihar's state finances. Prior to the 2016 ban, state excise duty on alcohol represented approximately 14 percent of Bihar's own tax revenue. The sudden elimination of this revenue stream severely constrained the state's capacity to finance infrastructure projects, educational initiatives, and public healthcare systems independently, leaving Bihar increasingly reliant on financial transfers from the central government.
According to the NCAER study, reinstating the alcohol excise tax to pre-ban levels would immediately boost Bihar's tax revenues by 14 to 15 percent. Furthermore, the state currently expends vast sums of public money on enforcing prohibition through specialized police squads, digital surveillance, breathalyzer checkpoints, and anti-smuggling operations along borders. Reversing the ban would allow the administration to cut these mounting enforcement expenditures while redirecting critical fiscal resources toward capital expenditure and basic public services.
The Underground Economy and Alternative Intoxicants
Rather than eliminating alcohol consumption, strict prohibition has given rise to a lucrative underground market. Over the past decade, contraband alcohol has continued to flow into the state through porous borders, distributed by organized bootlegging syndicates. The illicit liquor trade has not only deprived the state treasury of revenue but has also created severe public health risks. Repeated incidents of spurious, toxic liquor consumption have resulted in tragic fatalities across rural districts, disproportionately affecting economically vulnerable families.
"Reinstating the liquor excise tax to pre-ban levels would increase the state's own revenues by 14 to 15 percent and decrease spending on enforcement and anti-smuggling operations."
— NCAER Policy Recommendation
An equally alarming side-effect identified by researchers is the sharp rise in the consumption of illegal drugs and dangerous chemical intoxicants. Anecdotal evidence and law enforcement seizure records suggest that in the absence of regulated alcohol, young men in particular have substituted legal beverages with synthetic narcotics, pharmaceutical drugs, and volatile substances. This shift has created new public health challenges and strained regional addiction treatment facilities that were already under-resourced.
Judicial Overburden and Social Consequences
The rigorous implementation of prohibition laws has also placed an enormous burden on Bihar's judicial system and penal infrastructure. Over the years, hundreds of thousands of cases have been registered under strict anti-liquor legislation, leading to crowded dockets in district courts and overcrowding in local prisons. A substantial proportion of those arrested and detained belong to marginalized economic backgrounds, including daily-wage laborers and transport workers caught with small quantities of alcohol.
Legal experts and civil rights advocates point out that the criminalization of low-level possession has trapped vulnerable families in cycles of debt due to legal fees and bail costs, running counter to the law's original intent of promoting household economic stability. Although the state government introduced amendments in recent years to permit fines instead of mandatory jail terms for first-time offenders, legal machinery remains heavily pre-occupied with liquor-related prosecutions at the expense of investigating major violent crimes.
The Political Dilemma and Alternative Paths Forward
Despite growing empirical evidence and policy critiques, revoking prohibition presents a complex political challenge. For the political leadership, prohibition remains a centerpiece of social policy and a major point of appeal among female voters who strongly favored the original ban. Supporters of the current policy contend that despite enforcement flaws, the ban has fostered greater social discipline in public spaces, reduced public drunkenness, and encouraged low-income households to divert discretionary spending toward food, children's education, and household amenities.
However, an increasing number of policy experts, economists, and public health professionals argue that a blanket ban is inherently unsustainable and counterproductive. They advocate for a pragmatic regulatory framework that balances social welfare concerns with economic reality. Suggested alternatives include strictly regulated state retail monopolies, high excise taxation to discourage excessive consumption, mandatory age verification, targeted public education campaigns, and dedicated funding for substance abuse rehabilitation programs funded directly by liquor tax receipts.
Conclusion: Balancing Moral Intent and Practical Policy
The NCAER study underscores a crucial lesson in public policy: well-intentioned moral mandates do not automatically guarantee positive social outcomes. While the initial rationale for prohibition in Bihar was rooted in a genuine desire to protect women and strengthen vulnerable households, a decade of implementation has revealed deep structural flaws, substantial revenue leakage, and the growth of illicit criminal networks.
As Bihar seeks to accelerate its economic growth and achieve long-term development targets, policymakers face a pivotal decision. Continuing with an unenforceable ban risks further straining state resources and exacerbating underground criminal economies. A measured shift toward legal regulation, coupled with evidence-based social interventions against gender violence, offers a more sustainable path forward for both public finance and social welfare.
