Clothes, honey fly off the shelf in dry Bihar

Prohibition helps people to save money and buy new assets

Prohibition has seen people in the state of Bihar spending more on luxury clothes and food, according to the latest research on purchasing habits, with sales of expensive saris rising by 1,751 per cent while consumption of honey is up by 380 per cent in the first six months of the ban. Sales of cheese rose by 200 per cent.

The research, conducted by reputed think tank Asian Development Research Institute (ADRI) and the governmentfunded knowledge institute Development Management Institute (DMI), also found that 19 per cent of households acquired new assets from the money they earlier would have splurged on liquor.

Both studies were commissioned by the state to evaluate consequences of prohibition, which came into force in April, 2016 “mainly as a response to demands of rural women who suffered because of the widespread practice of drinking alcohol”.

The findings were appended to the economic survey report and tabled before the state Assembly this year.

Lassi sales also up

The ADRI study took stock of purchasing behaviour as recorded at retail outlets of COMFED (Bihar State Milk Co-operative Federation), better known as ‘Sudha’.

An impressive rise in sales volumes was also recorded for items like butter milk (40 per cent), flavoured milk (28.4 per cent) and lassi (19.7 per cent), the report said.

The ADRI study collected data on purchases of other consumer items as well, based on sales tax revenues.