Patna, Feb 22 : Facing criticism over liquor ban time and again, the Bihar government has issued a report claiming that 1.82 crore people (which is almost 96 per cent of the state population) have left liquor consumption since liquor ban imposition in April, 2016. The report issued on Tuesday evening said that 99 per cent women and 92 per cent men are in favour of liquor ban. Whenever Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar faces criticism on liquor ban, his government gives contract to an organisation for conducting a survey on it. This time, the department has given the assignment to Panchayati Raj department, Jivika Didi group and Chanakya law university. Earlier, Bihar government had given the contract to Adri and Jagjivan Ram Research Institutes in 2017 and A N Sinha educational institution and Chanakya law university in 2022. This is the third report and has been issued jointly by Liquor Prohibition Department Commissioner B Kartikeya Dhan JI, SP Singh, the dean of Chanakya university, Rahul Kumar, the executive director of Jivika Didi department. "We have conducted surveys in 534 blocks of all 38 districts in Bihar and 1.15 lakh Jivika Didis have conducted the survey. They asked the questions to 10 lakh people living in these districts. Based on their answers, we have prepared reports on liquor ban," said Rahul Kumar, the executive director of Jivika Didi group. "The report was sent to the Chanakya Law Institute for scanning. During the analysis of the report, we have found that 1.82 crore people have stopped drinking liquor since April 2016," Kumar said. "Due to the liquor ban, crime and road accidents have declined in Bihar," he said. /IANS