398 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
foreign policy and creation of friendly relations with other foreign nations, there should be no risk in reducing the defence expenditure by Rs. 50 crores per year.
There is no reason why the levy of the Salt tax should not be resumed. The giving up of the levy of the Salt tax was a concession to mere sentiment. It has not made Salt cheap. Instead salt has become very dear. The only thing that has happened is that the State has lost a valuable source of revenue which used to produce Rs. 11 crores of revenue per year and which has seriously handicapped the State in advancing the development of the country. The incident of the tax on the people will be nothing even if it is levied at a rate which will produce Rs. 30 crores per year.
Prohibition is sheer madness. Its progress must not only be arrested but it must be immediately abolished. It has produced more evils than those it was intended to stop. Manufacture of liquor has become a cottage industry. Formerly only men drank liquor. Now women and children also drink because liquor is manufactured in every home in the presence of women and children. It has produced more crime and worst soil of demoralisation of the lower classes.
From the point of view of conserving the resources of the State it is a huge waste. The excise revenue of Part ‘A’ States in 1945-46 was Rs. 51.67 crores. In 1950-51, it was 25.23 crores. The Budget estimates for 1951-52 is 24.95 crores. The figures for 1945-46 includes the prepartitioned Punjab and Bengal. Nevertheless, broadly the statement can be made that the loss on account of prohibition in part ‘A’ States is of the order of Rs. 25 crores a year. This does not, however, take into account the possible rise in excise revenue that might have taken place in the absence of prohibition.
For Bombay, excise revenue in 1946-47 was Rs. 9.74 crores. In 1950-51, it was 1.20 crores and the budget estimates for 1951-52 is 1.05 crores. The loss in excise revenue thus works out of about Rs. 8.7 crores a year.