New Delhi: A paper presented at the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) India Policy Forum 2026 suggests that Bihar’s 2016 ban has failed to increase women’s safety in the state while causing a significant loss in state revenue. The authors of the paper also called for the liquor ban’s repeal, the Business Standard reported.The paper, titled Macro Perspective of Bihar’s Development: Achievements, Unfinished Agenda, and the Way Forward, has been authored by Ratna Sahay and Aakash Dev of NCAER, Santosh Gautam of the University of Notre Dame and Nishith Prakash of Northeastern University.The paper said that before prohibition, alcohol excise duty contributed around 14% of Bihar’s revenue in the three years preceding the ban. In addition to this loss, the authors said the prohibition regime increased expenditure on monitoring and preventing illegal alcohol trade, adding to the state’s fiscal deficit.Also read: Liquor Ban Has Failed in Both Bihar and Gujarat. But Political Battle Continues Over Hooch Tragedy“It has not served society well at all. It was 14-15 per cent of all revenues. That is a huge loss,” she added,” Sahay said, speaking at the NCAER event.The paper also noted that the prohibition has not resulted in reduced crimes against women, citing data from the National Crimes Record Bureau. “Instead, it has coincided with higher violence against women, loss of state revenues, and higher expenditures, the paper said.The Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016, was enacted after massive protests by women and social activists to ban all types of alcohol in the state.Using NCRB data from 2012 to 2024, the authors found that reported crimes against women in Bihar had increased. However, they noted that part of the increase could be due to improved reporting rather than a rise in actual incidents.“Overall, the available evidence does not indicate a broad-based reduction in crimes against women following prohibition. At the same time, the prohibition regime has been accompanied by concerns regarding the expansion of the illicit liquor trade, increased enforcement challenges and corruption, and the growing use of alternative intoxicants, including illicit drugs,” the paper states. “In tandem, there was a significant rise in the illegal liquor trade, leading to higher alcohol consumption, increased crime and corruption, and an increase in the use of alternative addictive substances, such as illicit drugs,” it added.The paper also assessed Bihar’s wider economic performance. The state has recorded annual growth of 7.3% since 2005, compared with 6.1% nationally, but remains India’s poorest state, with per capita income at about one-third of the national figure.Multidimensional poverty in Bihar declined from 51.9% in 2015-16 to 33.8% in 2019-21. The study estimates that 22.5 million people were lifted out of multidimensional poverty during this period. However, around one in three people in the state remains deprived across multiple dimensions, the highest proportion among Indian states.The authors identified six priority areas for Bihar: education, health, governance and law and order, flood mitigation, private sector development and women’s empowerment.The paper also highlighted Bihar’s secondary school retention rate, with only 25.3% of children who enter Class 1 reaching secondary school. It cited shortages of doctors and foreign investment of just Rs 10.02 crore in FY25 as other concerns.To address the state’s fiscal deficit, the authors proposed increasing state tax mobilisation, restoring liquor excise revenue and raising transfers from the Union government.