Prohibition to be reviewed

Principal Correspondent Kohima, September 26 After 25 years of pulling on with the Nagaland Liquor Total Prohibition (NLTP) Act, 1989, a consultative meeting of the government of Nagaland with the tribal hohos (organisaitons), NGOs and civil societies today resolved to review the Act. The meeting, which concluded late this evening, brought out differing and opposing views on the matter of continuation or lifting of the Liquor Prohibition Act as some parties expressed strong concerns and objected to any move to lift the prohibition and instead recommend that the Act as well as the Excise department of the State be strengthened and made more effective. On the other hand, majority of the speakers were in favour of lifting the prohibition on the ground that the choice of food and drink lies with the individual.Nevertheless, the members and stakeholders present were of the unanimous view that the NLTP Act has failed to achieve its objective and unanimously resolved that the Act and its implementation need to be reviewed. Therefore, the meeting resolved that the State government may set up an expert committee to study in detail the entirety of the issues relating to the implementation of the Act and that the Committee submit its findings and suggestions to the government within two months. The meeting also authorised the Committee to carry out studies of implementation of prohibition in other states of the country and their experiences as well as the outcome of such policies and list out in detail the factors that favour as well as oppose lifting of total prohibition for further examination of the government and consultations with civil societies before taking a final decision.