Bihar: Nitish Kumar Relents, Announces Compensation for Hooch Victims’ Families

Patna: Amid reports of more than 30 people having died after allegedly consuming illicit liquor in dry Bihar in the past three days, the state government has, at last, announced compensation to all hooch victims since 2016, when total liquor prohibition was imposed.

Till last month, the government had refused to provide compensation to those who had died after allegedly consuming illicit liquor.

Monday’s announcement (to provide compensation) has come as a big relief to several families, mostly poor, who lost members in numerous hooch tragedies reported in the state in the past seven years.

Like in the recent past, most of those who died in the latest hooch tragedy in East Champaran district (more than 30) were from poor and working-class families. This is the second such incident in the past three and half months this year.

The series of incidents since the past three years has exposed the ground reality of the government’s failure to check and control the illicit or “desi” liquor trade. Illicit liquor is available freely at cheaper rates in rural areas. The trade has caught up after Chief Minister Nitish Kumar imposed total liquor prohibition in the state.

Talking to media here on Monday, Kumar said it was decided to provide a compensation of Rs 4 lakh to dependents of each victim of the hooch tragedies from the CM relief fund. "I have directed the chief secretary to prepare a report on the basis of information collected from district magistrates along with verified documents to provide compensation".

But, Kumar said that families of hooch victims will have to give in writing that they support prohibition and that consuming illicit liquor was wrong and harmful for health.

This a major change in Kumar's approach toward victims of hooch tragedies. Until recently, the Chief Minister had repeatedly ruled out any compensation for families of the victims. He claimed that there was no provision for compensation for those who died after consuming liquor. He used to warn people that if they drink spurious liquor, they may well die. "Jo piyega woh marega" (those who drink spurious alcohol will die).

In the past over seven years, one hooch tragedy after another has been reported in the state despite the ban on manufacturing, storage, transportation, sale and consumption of alcohol since April 2016. Despite the much-hyped use of drones, copters and motorboats by the Kumar-led government to curb illegal manufacturing and smuggling of liquor, hundreds of deaths have been reported in the past three years.

A political watchaser said Kuar had made the announcement as the 2024 Lok Sabha polls were not far away and the ruling Mahagathbandhan allies, Left parties and Hindustani Awam Morcha, and opposition Bharatiya Janata Party had been demanding compensation for hooch victims.

Deaths in hooch tragedies have pushed dependents of poor families on the verge of starvation. For instance, Phulmati Devi and Sohela Devi have been struggling for survival after their husbands died after allegedly consuming illicit alcohol in Siwan district this year. Both welcomed Kumar’s announcement to provide compensation "It is a big relief for me and people like us because illicit liquor snatched our bread earner and we are struggling for livelihood", Phulmati told NewsClick.
 

Phulmati and Sohela are two among hundreds of widows of victims of hooch, who will be benefited by the compensation.

Reacting to the announcement, CPI(ML) state secretary Kunal said his party leaders, workers and supporters had staged a protest across the state demanding compensation to the families of hooch tragedy victims. "We had put pressure on the government. The CPI(ML) has been demanding compensation as most of the victims were poor and from the working class; their families have lost their livelihood. The party is a strong supporter of a total liquor prohibition, but it wants the government to be sensitive toward the dependents of those who died after drinking spurious liquor".

The CPI(ML), which has 12 MLAs, has raised the issue of compensation regularly in the Bihar Assembly. A party delegation also met with Kumar seeking compensation.

Similarly, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), which has two MLAs, also staged a protest outside the Assembly demanding compensation for the families of the victims, as did two MLAs from the Communist Party of India.

Earlier, former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi’s party HAM, too, demanded compensation for the families of the victims.

Opposition BJP’s leader Vijay Kumar Sinha demanded compensation of Rs 10 lakh for the families.

According to police officials, there is no data available of the exact number of victims of hooch tragedies in the state. "Only district officials can reveal if they have records. The other problem is that many poor victims of hooch are cremated without a post-mortem by families fearing harassment by local administration in view of violation of prohibition laws", he added.

However, it was reported that Illicit liquor claimed 95 lives in the state in 2021, prompting the then-ruling ally BJP to question how manufacturers and traders were freely doing business despite the state government's claim that the police were ensuring prohibition. More than 100 people died in about 12 hooch tragedies in 2022.

Last year, Left party leaders had also dared the state government to probe into the politician-administration-liquor mafia nexus. This nexus, they claimed, was behind the production and sale of illicit and spurious liquor. Instead of curbing the liquor mafia, the poor were being punished through the draconian Prohibition Act, they stated.

Left leaders said the government should stop using the prohibition law as a weapon to “repress and oppress” the poor and provide proper medical treatment and de-addiction programmes for persons who are addicted to liquor.