Patna: Former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi on Wednesday argued that the sale of toddy (Palm wine) should not be banned in Bihar as it is a "natural juice" and should not be compared with liquor. He urged d Chief Minister Nitish Kumar not to ban this local drink as it is a source of income for lakhs of people belonging to the "Pasi" community.
On Tuesday, thousands of people from the Pasi community staged a protest in Patna alleging that police were unnecessarily arresting the people of the Pasi community charging them with selling toddy. Under Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, the consumption of toddy is also banned.
As the protest had turned violent yesterday, the police had to charge lathi on the protesters in which several people were injured.
“Nitish Kumar often becomes rigid about decisions if he decides to implement them and this is what he is doing with liquor law in the state. He wants to prove himself right by implementing the ban because of which the problem persists. No question of banning toddy because it's a natural juice, it should not be put under the liquor category. Lakhs of people are employed in this business, not just the Pasi community but other poor people as well, ”Manjhi said.
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Toddy is an alcoholic beverage created from the sap of various species of palm trees such as the palmyra, date palms, and coconut palms and is known by several local names in different regions of the country. In Bihar, it's better known as 'Taadi' and is mostly consumed by people belonging to the low-income group. The Pasi community is traditionally involved in the collecting the juice from the tall palm trees required for manufacturing toddy.
Manjhi further said, “I don't think that the law and order situation is affected because of toddy sale. I don't know about others but it's my personal opinion.” Earlier in the past, he had also made similar statements suggesting the poors to drink liquor after 10 PM like the richer ones. He also claimed that drinking two pegs of alcohol works like medicine.
Over 4.5 lakh people have been arrested in Bihar this year for violating the Liquor law. The state government claims that more than 1.5 crore people have left liquor since the enforcement of the liquor ban. But hooch deaths in the state kept raising serious questions about its implementation. According to state government data, around 180 people have died in the last year after consuming spurious liquor.
