The Nagaland Liquor Total Prohibition (NLTP) Act, 1989 took centre stage on the first day of the Fifth Session of 14th Nagaland Legislative Assembly.
The discussion was initiated by Advisor of Excise, Labour & Employment, Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Moatoshi Longkumer, on matters of urgent public importance pertaining to “Health Hazards of Spurious Liquor”.
Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio in his concluding remarks, said the government will have further discussions on NLTP Act 1989, with all the stakeholders and public leaders.
He said, instead of pointing fingers at one another, it is time we all came together and reason together so that we could collectively and resolutely address this problem and make our society free from the hazards of spurious and illicit liquor. “Rather than judging one another, let us have an open mind and positively share views and inputs to make our community healthy and resilient,” he added.
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The Chief Minister viewed that efforts to ban alcohol have led to unintended and often detrimental consequences such as the rise of black market, increased criminal activity, rise in syndicate suppliers, spurious and inferior quality among many others.
He also pointed out that unregulated alcohol in the black market is often of poor quality and poses severe health risks, including poisoning and death. He emphasized that regulation will allow for strict quality measures, reducing the incidence of health complications associated with unsafe alcohol consumption.
The Chief Minister also said, the State Government can only regulate and restrict sale and flow of liquor but cannot outrightly prohibit individuals from drinking which is essentially a matter of personal choice and decision. Looking at the spatial history of the prohibition policy, he said it has been observed that the policy has been largely effective in rural areas in the State however, in the urban areas, we have witnessed a huge failure.
Appreciating the Church for being vocal on this matter, he said the state government has been consulting with all sections of the society on important public matters such as this before taking any decision.
Further, the Chief Minister said, the common citizens at large have suffered and there are several examples of our citizens suffering from various diseases owing to consumption of illicit liquor.
