Why India’s poorest state continues to struggle with illegal alcohol sales

Nine years after a state-wide alcohol ban was imposed to curb drug addiction, domestic violence and financial ruin among the poorest families, Bihar, India’s poorest state, still struggles to gauge the policy’s effectiveness.

When the BBC followed officials in Bihar during a hazy October morning raid on smugglers, the gaps in enforcement became clear.

Armed tax officials and sniffer dogs traveled by boat across the Ganges to raid an illegal distillery.

Arriving on the outskirts of the capital, Patna, the team discovered a ramshackle contraption of a dozen metal barrels – part of a makeshift setup for fermenting jaggery, a type of sucrose, into country liquor.

Steam rises from the drum embedded in the riverside mud, its surface still warm.

Officials said the location was active just minutes ago, but by the time they arrived, the brewers had fled.

One police officer, who asked not to be named, said: “They often receive reports before raids.”

Despite these enforcement gaps, prohibition remains steadfast in Bihar.

The law, passed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in 2016 following persistent demands from women’s groups, was one of the factors that helped his Janata Dal-BJP alliance achieve a decisive state election victory earlier this month.

State officials have used huge numbers to tout the policy’s success: 1.1 million cases have been registered and 650,000 people have been convicted of violations since the law came into effect. But the devil is in the details.

More than 99% of convictions are for the consumption of illegal alcohol, rather than the production, sale or transportation. Additionally, alcohol remains widely available on the black market in Bihar.

In the six weeks leading up to the recent elections, more than 522 million rupees ($6.26 million, £4.96 million) worth of illicit liquor was seized from across the state.

So why can’t Bihar enforce the ban more effectively?

Local police, who declined to go public, said this was the result of a combination of factors, including staff shortages, increasingly sophisticated smuggling methods and possible collusion between alcohol manufacturers and authorities.

“The law provides for life imprisonment and even death for murder. But does that stop people from murdering? No, it doesn’t,” said outgoing minister Ratnesh Sada, whose ministry handled the ban issue.

Mr. Saada, however, maintained that action had been taken against at least a hundred individuals involved in the illegal liquor trade and their properties had been confiscated.

“We destroyed the facilities but within a few days they were up and running again,” said revenue official Sunil Kumar.

Bihar’s geography makes enforcement more difficult. The landlocked state borders Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and West Bengal, all of which allow alcohol consumption and has become a major source of smuggled liquor. It also shares a 726-kilometer (449-mile) porous border with Nepal, which officials say has become a major conduit for alcohol smuggling, further complicating law enforcement efforts.

Despite the challenges, many women in Bihar still bear deep scars from their husbands’ alcoholism but hope the ban will continue.

In Chhapra district, Lalmunni Devi, who lost her husband to tainted liquor in 2022, said alcoholism had completely changed her life.

“I just hope no one else suffers the same fate,” she said.

Neetu Devi, another widow, broke down recalling her husband’s death.

“If the government completely closes all such factories, then it (liquor) will no longer be available. It will continue to be produced and that is why people continue to consume it,” she said.

Rajeev Kamal Kumar, an anthropologist at the Sinha Institute of Social Sciences in Patna who worked on the government’s prohibition studies, says both sides of the story are true.

“Many women and older people say Prohibition improved household finances, children’s education and nutrition. But there is no denying that the illicit trade continues,” he said.

Bihar is not the first or only state in India to impose a ban; several others have tried it over the years. But such measures often trigger unintended consequences — from a thriving black market and deaths from illicit beer to law enforcement challenges that drain state resources.

Since alcohol taxes remain a major source of revenue for many state governments, the financial costs are also considerable.

Gujarat and Nagaland have had bans in place since 1960 and 1989, but both countries are still grappling with smuggling.

Mizoram imposed a ban in 1997, lifted it in 2015, reinstated it in 2019, and then relaxed it again in 2022 to allow the production, sale and export of wine made from local grapes.

Some other states have also lifted bans after encountering economic and administrative challenges.

For now, the ban will remain in place in Bihar as the outgoing government returns to power. But the policy remains a paradox – some hail it as a social reform, others criticize it as ineffective.

Whether it succeeded or simply drove the problem underground is a question that continues to plague the state.

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