Liquor ban: If India wants to compete with China, prohibition will have to be imposed across nation, says Nitish Kumar

Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday said if India is keen to compete with China, prohibition will have to be imposed across the country.

"I strongly feel that India will need to have country-wide prohibition, if it wants to compete with China," Nitish Kumar said at a function here.

To substantiate his point, he said China progressed and developed only after it ended opium addiction.

"People have a keen desire that our country should compete with China but India and its new generation with liquor won't be able to compete with China," Kumar said.

The Chief Minister, however, said that implementing prohibition is a challenging task.

Last month, a Patna High Court order had struck down the liquor ban in Bihar, put into effect as per the old Excise and Prohibition Act since April 5 this year. 

But Bihar became a dry state once again as the new stringent Bihar Excise and Prohibition Act came into force from "Gandhi Jayanti" on Oct 2.