No liquor ban in Madhya Pradesh : Minister

Bhopal, Feb 14 (IANS) The Madhya Pradesh government is not planning to ban liquor in the state, Finance Minister Jayant Malaiya said on Wednesday.

He denied that the state government had ever said that there would be a total liquor ban. 

Malaiya added that the government would continue to organise public awareness campaigns on the ill effects of alcohol so that people would consume it less or avoid it.

The announcement would come as a disappointment to those who were expecting total prohibition in the state in line with Bihar.

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had announced during the 'Namami Devi Narmade Sewa Yatra' that the government would remove liquor shops from the Narmada river vicinity.