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Facing a crisis of space to house nearly 35,000 people arrested under the new liquor law, the Bihar government is mulling capacity expansion of prisons to accommodate overflow of tipplers.
“We are thinking of enhancing capacity of jails to house more inmates arrested under the new liquor law,” Excise and Prohibition Minister Abdul Jalil Mastan said. He, however, did not give details.
A proposal for enhancing capacity for inmates would be brought in the Cabinet, Mastan said. The minister’s concern is not out of place as all the 58 jails in Bihar are overflowing with inmates arrested under the liquor law in the state since April last year.
Director of Jails Rajiv Verma told PTI today that the existing 58 prisons have a capacity to accommodate about 32,000 inmates. He said there are eight central, 32 district and 18 sub-jails in Bihar.
Assistant Excise Commissioner Om Prakash Mandal told PTI that 34,388 people have been sent to jails under the new Excise Law since April 2016 to February 6, 2017.
This burgeoning number of people brought to jails caught under the liquor law is posing a serious challenge to the prison administration.
The new prohibition law imposed by the Nitish Kumar government has a provision for jail terms of 5 to 10 years for people caught with alcohol.
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