z:\ ambedkar\vol-02\vol2-02.indd MK SJ+YS 21-9-2013/YS-8-11-2013 33
ON BUDGET 33
best way in which agriculture ought to be run. Population is increasing every decade, and land is being fragmented every time a man and heirs come on the spot. Everywhere the situation is as bad as one could conceive it. The only way by which you can increase the standard of living of the people in the villages is not to give them an antiquated machine like the charkha or to force them to weave cloth which they cannot sell in a competitive market. The way to increase the standard of living is not to destroy industries and other revenues of service in the towns and force them to go to villages. The way lies in the other direction, namely, in taking away as many people as you possibly can from the villages and bringing them to the towns, giving them employment in industries and establishing better ways of economic life. That is the way. Sir, I have no hesitation in saying that a man who is bent upon breaking up such little industry, such little urbanisation, as we possess is certainly no friend of the people ; if I may say so, I look upon him as an enemy of the people.
Now, as regards the second point. My honourable friend says : “After all, what am I doing ? Am I adding anything to the total ? No. I am raising Rs. 1,69 lakhs, but I am also giving up 1,25 lakhs of the drink revenue and 40 lakhs of land revenue.” I do not know whether he is serious in taking credit for this. If he is, I would remind him of the potter who was given a certain amount of potter’s clay. Sir, if the potter instead of making a Ganapati made a monkey out of that clay, or instead of making a good elephant out of it made a donkey, would you say that the potter was a good potter, because he did not use more clay ? I wonder what would be the answer. This is nothing else but making a monkey out of the thing ; nothing else but that Therefore, Sir, in my judgment, as I said at the opening of my speech, this budget so far as taxation is concerned, is a reckless thing, and so far as expenditure is concerned, is a senseless thing. Sir, we all ought to realise that this presidency is the most highly taxed presidency. The per capita taxation in the provinces of British India is—these are not my figures; they are figures that I have taken from the speech my honourable friend the Finance Minister delivered last year :—
Rs.
Bihar and Orissa . . . . . . . . . 1.29
Bengal . . . . . . . . . 1.78
Assam . . . . . . . . . 2.26
Central Provinces . . . . . . . . . 2.72
United Provinces . . . . . . . . . 2.29
Punjab . . . . . . . . . 4.43
Madras . . . . . . . . . 3.26
Sind . . . . . . . . . 4.90
Bombay . . . . . . . . . 6.00
This alone will show that we are a very heavily taxed people. As a matter of fact our expenditure also is so regulated that we have really very little