GUWAHATI: After 4 years, Christian-majority Mizoram might become a dry state again. The state cabinet on March 8 had approved the Mizoram Liquor Prohibition Bill 2019 which will be tabled in the upcoming assembly session beginning March 12.
It should be noted that Mizoram has been a dry state for 17 years until 2015 when the ban was relaxed.
The Mizo National Front (MNF) had made the return of prohibition one of its key promises in the run-up to the assembly election in November of last year. This promise has seen the MNF return to power after 10 years and form a government with Zoramthanga as Chief Minister. The party has the numbers in the House to pass the bill
Soon after the decision was announced, Commissioner of the State Excise and Narcotics department, Ngurchungnunga Sailo issued a notification and asked “all owners of bonded warehouses, liquor vendors, micro-breweries and holders of liquor licences in clubs, government lodgings or hotels” to “dispose of all their stocks before March 31”.
