New Delhi -8th April 2016
I congratulate Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for the rare courage he has shown to enforce total prohibition in Bihar facing challenges from communal and corporate forces and more so for taking the entire political class with him and giving them due credit after receiving tremendous response from people against liquor. He and Lalu laid the foundation for a social revolution on the lines of Mahatma Gandhi, Jaiprakash Narain and C. Rajagopalachari. It is time that all democratic forces in the country, religions, social groups, farmers, women’s organizations join together to make the step a success.
In the spirit of Art. 47 of the Indian Constitution, the Central Government should rise to the occasion and compensate the State of Bihar for the excise revenue loss, an initiative taken by the former Prime Minister Morarji Desai that any State going dry and incurring loss of revenue on that account should be reimbursed by the Central Government to the tune of 50% for a period of 5 years.
It is time that all other Chief Ministers should feel inspired by the very bold step taken by Nitish Kumar and try to bring their respective States on the Prohibition map so that the issue gets its much needed national character, a dream Mahatma Gandhi nurtured through out his life.
By Swami Agnivesh