THE NATURE OF THE CHANGE 265
The plan recommended by the authors of the Report was [1 ]
“to assess the contribution from each Province to the Government of India as a percentage of the difference between the gross provincial revenue and the gross provincial expenditure”;
in other words, a levy on the surplus of the estimated gross revenue of the Province when all divided heads are separately allotted over its estimated normal expenditure, including expenditure on famine relief and protective irrigation. On the basis of the Budget figures for 1917-18 it was found that it would require a levy of 87 per cent. [2] on the provincial surpluses to make up the deficit of Rs.
1363 lakhs in the Budget of the Government of India found likely to be caused by the abolition of the system of divided heads. [3]
1 Report, p. 169.
2 The suggested imposition of an equal rate of levy is somewhat strange, for the authors of the Report had in para. 206 protested that “equality of contribution was impracticable,” etc. Para. 206 of the Joint Report makes a confusion. It protests against equality of contributions, which is what it adopts in the plan it recommends.
3 The way in which the proposed plan would have worked out in practice can be gathered from the following figures given in the Report, Cal. Ed. (p. 134), and based on the Budget figures for 1917-18:—
(In Lakhs of Rupees)
| Province | Gross Prov. Revenue | Gross Prov. Expen- diture | Gross Prov. Surplus | Contribu- tion (87 per cent. of Col. 4) | Net Prov. Surplus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| Madras … Bombay … Bengal … United … Provinces Punjab … Burma … Bihar and … Orissa Central … Provinces Assam … Total … | 13,31 10,01 7,54 11,22 8,64 7,69 4,04 4,12 1,71 | 8,40 9,00 6,75 7,47 6,14 6,08 3,59 3,71 1,50 | 4,91 1,01 79 3,75 2,50 1,61 45 41 21 | 4,28 88 69 3,27 2,18 1,40 39 36 18 | 63 13 10 48 32 21 6 5 3 |
| 68,28 | 52,64 | 15,64 | 13,63 | 2,01 |
N.B. —The Punjab figures in column 5 should be reduced and those in column
6 raised by 3 [1] / 2, lakhs in each case to allow for the continued compensation which the province is entitled to receive for the cession of a crore of its balances to the Government of India in 1914.