AIZAWL, Sept 7: There have contrast opinions on the continuation of the Liquor Prohibition Act in Mizoram.
State Prohibition Council, headed by its chairman who is also the minister in charge of Excise and Narcotics J.H. Rothuama today convened a meeting where the Study Group report on Mizoram Liqour Total Prohibition Act, 1995 was reviewed.
State Prohibition Council had on January 24, 2011, constituted a Study Group who would conduct an in-depth study on Mizoram Liqour Total Prohibition Act, 1995 which has been in use for about 14 years as to whether it is successful, what’s the public opinion on it, its effects, and whether it is good to continue enforcing the prohibition Act. As such, the Study Group, under the guidance of H. Raltawna, IAS (Rtd), took necessary steps carefully and had formed another sub group to study on the effects of liquor on economic and society.
Besides, the Study Group collected the opinions and views of various organizations on the success and failure of the Liquor Prohibition Act.
Experts from Mizoram University also had studied the effects of liquor on Mizo youths and women. Moreover, the Study Group conducted an in-depth study by collecting the records of the number of persons caught due to violation of the Act as well as the number of liquor caught and how the violators are persecuted, from Excise & Narcotics and Police department, besides conducting a study on the effects of liquor consumption on health through medical experts.
After considering all such, the Study Group comes to the conclusion that the main reason for the difficulty in making the Total Prohibition Act successful is due to high demand and it is necessary to take steps to lower the demand. The Study Group also concludes that if the Total Prohibition Act is to be continued the Excise & Narcotics Department needs to be stronger. And also that some changes have to be made in MLTP Act, 1995, the Study Group added in the report submitted to the State Prohibition Council.
Members attending the meeting today freely shared their views and opinions. While some of the members are of the opinion that MLTP Act is good for the Mizo society as of now, and want it to continue while other members opined that continuing the Act is not good and suggested for its abolition. The State Prohibition Council after having had recorded all the views will take sometime to decide.
Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/opinion-differs-on-continuation-of-total-liquor-ban-act-in-mizoram/
