Bihar’s alcohol ban has been a success for social wellness, data show

Recently, a report titled ‘Macro Perspective of Bihar’s Development Achievements, Unfinished Agenda, and the Way Forward’ presented at the India Policy Forum 2026 received widespread media attention. While it is a good and timely report, one of the recommendations it makes is flawed from public health and social development perspectives: that the State of Bihar should lift its alcohol ban.

To this end, the reports’ authors have argued that the ban has not really led to a decrease in violence against women and that the ban cost the State valuable revenue.