Visitors of all ages literally hit out at addiction in the excise department Bihar Divas stall at Gandhi Maidan.

A brown punching bag, on which the Hindi word nasha (addiction) was written in yellow bold letters, hang at the entrance of the stall. Visitors supporting the state government's move of clamping down prohibition took chances to hit it.

People manning the stall said the popularity of the bag was such that over 1,000 people had hit it during the three-day Bihar Divas celebrations.

"The idea was to spread awareness on prohibition but in a fun way. Many people hit the punching bag, which shows that they support the prohibition in the state," said event manager Amiya Ranjan.

The crowd was also seen at another section of the excise department stall. Certificates were being issued to people who pledged not to drink alcohol again in their lifetime.

"Bihar aaj nashamukt hai, main bhi shapath leta hoon ki main bhi nasha kabhi nahi karunga (Bihar is today alcohol-free. I too take pledge today that I would never drink alcohol) was the message written in the certificate that was being issued to the public. Those willing to take their certificate had to get an instant picture clicked at the stall. After getting a picture clicked and providing their names, their certificate was issued within two minutes.

Another stall keeper said: "Over 600 people got their certificates made at this counter. Yet, many were taking two - one of chief minister Nitish Kumar and another their own. People from rural areas preferred to take the chief minister's certificate. They said they supported the government's decision of clamping down prohibition. There were also people who got their certificates made at the stall though they never drank but said they wanted to make other people, mainly alcoholic, aware in their villages."

While most appreciated the de-addiction effort, some accused the government of failing to implement prohibition properly.

" Nasha dukan par nahi milta hai, who ghar ghar par pahunch jata hai, yeh sab police ki kami hai (Alcohol is not available in shops but it is being delivered at houses. All this is the police's fault)," Jagdish Sah from Sitamarhi had written this in the comments section of the log book at the excise stall.

A toll-free number to register complaints if anybody was found drinking was also displayed at the stall.