Bihar is 'dry' but drinks more liquor than Maharashtra, finds national survey

16-12-2020

In 2016, chief minister Nitish Kumar banned alcohol consumption in Bihar making it a dry state. But according to the latest report of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) 2019-20, Bihar consumes more liquor than Maharashtra. The NFHS-5 report said 15.5 per cent of all men (that is, above 15 years of age in this case) consumed alcohol in Bihar. Liquor consumption was higher in rural areas than in urban Bihar. Percentage of people consuming alcohol on rural Bihar stood at 15.8 per cent in the NFHS-5, the same in urban regions stood at 14 per cent. In Maharashtra, where prohibition is not in place, 13.9 per cent men consume alcohol. Both rural and urban areas of Maharashtra have lower liquor consumption ratio compared to Bihar. In urban Maharashtra, 13 per cent population consume liquor, the percentage goes up to 14.7 in rural areas. In both states, rural areas have a higher percentage of people drinking liquor. Among women, both Bihar and Maharashtra had the same 0.4 per cent of the population consuming alcohol. However, there is variation in the spatial distribution of liquor consumers among women in Bihar and Maharashtra. Women in urban areas of Bihar consume more alcohol than their counterparts from Maharashtra - 0.5 per cent in Bihar compared to 0.3 per cent in Maharashtra. In rural Bihar, 0.4 per cent women consume liquor compared to 0.5 per cent rural Maharashtra. But Bihar was not the only apparent surprise in the NFHS-5. Goa, which is commonly associated with liberal booze culture, showed lower liquor consumption level than a more �conservative� Telangana. While 36.9 per cent of Goan men consumed alcohol, the percentage was Telangana men stood at 43.3 per cent in the national survey. Overall, rural India drinks more alcohol than the urban regions. Gujarat and Jammu and Kashmir have the lowest liquor consumption levels among states and Union Territories with 5.8 per cent and 8.8 per cent for men. The NFHS-5 also reported that consumption of tobacco is higher than alcohol in the country. Mizoram reported the highest percentage of tobacco consumption with 75 per cent of men and 65 per cent of women consuming tobacco. The results of the NFHS-5 is based on a survey of 6.1 lakh sample households.