Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh on Tuesday said that his government will soon implement alcohol ban in the state, reported CNN-News18. Singh’s announcement is reportedly influenced by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Singh, who is on a two-day tour of Bihar, met Kumar at the latter’s residence in Patna on Tuesday morning.

The ban will be put in place in a phased manner. “Prohibition will be imposed first in villages in Chhattisgarh having population of 3,000 and more,” said the chief minister, according to India Today.

Advertisement

The Bihar chief minister has been batting for total prohibition for a long time now. On March 26, he had administered a pledge to thousands of people in Chhattisgarh to shun liquor. “Liquor ban has to be enforced to protect society. People should take the resolution to continue their campaign against the liquor until they succeed,” the Janata Dal (United) chief had said while speaking at a programme organised by the Kurmi community in Chhattishgarh. During his speech, Kumar had said that the liquor ban was for a social cause, so his government was not bothered about the loss of revenue.

This comes two days after Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan hinted that the state would implement a total ban on alcohol in a phased manner. The chief minister said the first phase has already been rolled out, with the government closing down all liquor shops situated within a radius of five kilometres from the banks of Narmada. “In the next phase, the liquor shops will not be allowed to open in residential localities, near educational institutes or religious places,” he added.

Currently, Bihar and Gujarat are the only states that have a total ban on alcohol in place. Tamil Nadu has failed at implementing such a ban after experimenting more than once, Andhra Pradesh also tried it in the 1990s. Mizoram was forced withdraw the ban after 17 years in 2014.