Pochury Baptist Church Council demands implementation of NLTP Act in letter and spirit

DIMAPUR — The Pochury Baptist Church Council (PBCC) has urged the government of Nagaland to brace up for implementation of the Nagaland Liquor Total Prohibition (NLTP) Act, 1989, in letter and spirit by making maximum use of all the available resources.

The PBCC said in a statement that the resolution was resolved at its executive meeting on September 19 and the 20th at the Mission Centre in Yisisotha, in the wake of a demand made by a section of Dimapur-based civil society organisations, urging the governor of Nagaland to lift the NLTP Act in the state’s commercial hub.

The government of Nagaland passed the Act in 1989, heeding the voice of the people, spearheaded by the ‘Church and Mother’s Association’ but it has never been sincerely implemented to date, it said.

“What is disturbing is that the onus for this failure is fixed on the church. On issues of social concern, the church has its role to play to the extent that it can instruct its members to remain law-abiding citizens of the land, but it is not a law-enforcing agency. The government has got all the necessary competency to monitor and implement the Act,” it said.

“In the event that the Act is lifted, the scale of damage it will cause to the individual, family and society in our towns and villages will be terrible. An honest assessment of the aftermath is plain that the devastating effect of lifting the Act outweighs far beyond the monetary benefit it will bring to the government’s coffer,” it added.

It may be mentioned that the NLTP Act prohibits the possession, sale, consumption, import, export and manufacture of liquor in Nagaland.

Also read: Naga Council Dimapur demands reinstatement of sub-offices, reiterates lifting of NLTP Act