A drunk government school headmaster was arrested after he attempted to unfurl the tricolour on Republic Day in Muzaffarpur’s Minapur area in north Bihar. In a now viral video, the school headmaster is seen admitting “he was drunk due to helplessness…” and stating that “drinking [liquor] is important for life”.
“A complaint was received stating that headmaster Sanjay Kumar Singh of a government school in Dharampur East tried to unfurl the national flag on Republic Day in a state of drunkenness. The police reached the school immediately and conducted a breathalyser test which confirmed that he had consumed alcohol and was arrested,” Sujit Kumar, incharge of local Rampur-Hari Police station, said.
However, before his arrest, the headmaster told local villagers that he drank out of “helplessness as he has not received his salary for last five months”.
“I’ve not even paid for midday meal for school students either. I know how I’m living and running this place [school]. Please ty to understand how I’m running my household and this school. I’m in debt,” the drunk headmaster is seen telling the villagers in the viral video. He added that “some people close to me got me drink. Where will I get money from? Drinking liquor is important for life”.
The villagers who had gathered for the Republic Day event alerted the local police and MLA Rajeev Kumar alias Munna Yadav when the headmaster was caught inebriated on the school premises. “It is shameful that a government school headmaster came drunk to school to the Republic Day function. He should face strict action,” Mr. Kumar, who represents Minapur said. The Rashtriya Janata Dal leader added that prohibition had “completely failed in the State as liquor is available anywhere, everywhere”.
Bihar was declared a dry State in April 2016, and since then several lakh litres of illegal liquor has been seized in the State while over a thousand people have been convicted for breaching the law. The Bihar police have constituted 180 anti-liquor task force teams and 25-sniffer dog squads, deployed drones, and speedboats besides installing CCTV cameras and scanners at checkpoints, to crack down on illegal liquor traders in the State. But, despite all this, liquor bottles and pouches continue to be easily available in every nook and cranny across the State which are mostly smuggled from the neighbouring States of Jharkhand, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Punjab, Haryana, and even from neighbouring country Nepal which shares its porous border with India in Bihar.
Hundreds of people, mostly poor, have died so far while consuming in hooch tragedies in different parts of the State. However, as Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, has reiterated, “piyoge to maroge [you drink, you die]”.
