Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Friday exhorted Jeevika Didis — women associated with self-help groups under the Bihar Rural Livelihoods Project — to raise a stink and agitate if they saw anybody brewing illicit alcohol, selling or consuming it.

“If you get to know that anyone in your area is indulging in liquor-related activities, gather the women and go there in large numbers. Move around the place and speak in favour of prohibition. Tell them not to brew liquor or consume it. If you do this, nobody will dare to do any mischief. This should be done regularly. I am requesting this in my social reform campaign this time,” Nitish said.

He also asked them to immediately call on the phone numbers publicised by the Bihar government to report violations.

“Action will be taken against such people,” Nitish added.

The chief minister was speaking at Gopalganj, around 150km northwest from Patna, during the second phase of his social reform campaign.

Gopalganj was the first district to witness a hooch tragedy after Bihar went dry in April 2016. At least 16 persons lost their lives in the incident in August that year.

Nitish asked the women associated with Jeevika self-help groups to always stay alert and aware against people trying to flout prohibition.

“There are always some people who will do some mischief. We should try to make them understand,” he said.

At present, there are over 10 lakh Jeevika self-help groups in the state. Helped technically and financially by the state government and aided by the World Bank, they engage in various types of economic activities at the local level to eke out a living.

Nitish is also nurturing the groups as his support base, especially in the light of the wide range of work done by his government for the welfare of women.

Speaking at the Gopalganj meeting, Nitish reminded the Jeevika Didis that he had implemented prohibition on their demand. He also asked them to work and speak against child marriage and dowry at the weekly meetings of their groups.

Throwing light on the reason behind launching the social reform campaign, Nitish pointed at the spate of hooch tragedies since the first week of November. About 60 people lost their lives. The state has witnessed around 110 deaths due to spurious liquor this year.

“We were taking action against people indulging in liquor and regularly conducting review meetings on prohibition, yet so many people died. I thought it was time to begin a campaign to make people aware and alert against liquor,” Nitish said.

The chief minister started touring all the nine administrative divisions on December 22 to create awareness against liquor and child marriage and would complete it on January 15.