India: No compensation to those who die after consuming liquor, says minister

The Chief Minister on the Indian state of Bihar, Nitish Kumar, on Friday said no compensation will be given if a person dies after consuming spurious liquor.

The chief minister's remark comes amid severe criticism from the Opposition in the wake of the rising hooch deaths in the Chhapra district.

"No compensation will be provided to people who die after consuming spurious liquor. We have been appealing to you not to drink. If you drink, you will die. Those who speak against prohibition will not bring any good to the people," the Bihar CM said in the Assembly on Friday.

On Thursday, the chief minister told mediapersons, who was mobbed for comments on the rising hooch toll in Chhapra, said, "Those consuming spurious liquor will die."

The CM has been fighting a firestorm of protests and Opposition attacks over his alleged failed liquor prohibition policy.

Defending the liquor ban in Bihar, he had earlier said the state's prohibition policy has seen many giving up drinking in the state.

Meanwhile, the hooch toll in Chhapra district rose to 60 on Friday.

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