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REPORT OF THE INDIAN HEMP DRUGS COMMISSION, 1893-94.
[APP.
AJMERE-MERWARA MEMORANDUM.
With reference to your office endorsement No. 3330-R., dated the 26th September 1893,
and in continuation of my letter No. 724, dated the 16th October 1893, regarding the collec-
tion of certain information required by the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission I have the honour
to state as follows.
2. As already reported in my letter quoted above, printed copies of the questions were
sent to—
(1) the District Superintendent of Police,
(2) the Civil Surgeon, Ajmere,
(3) the Revd. Dr. J. Husband, and
(4) the Abkari Inspector.
Answers from Nos. (1), (2), and (4) have been received and are herewith submitted.
These answers will, I fear, generally not be of much assistance to the Commission. The fact
is that, so far as I can ascertain, there is no one in Ajmere-Merwara who has made a study of
the subject or who desires any alteration in the existing system. The Revd. Dr. J. Husband,
who laid the questions before the Committee of the Ajmere Total Abstinence Association,
informs me that the questions asked do not come within the scope of the operations of the
society.
3. The statement called for in paragraph 4 of Mr. McIntosh's circular No. 28 of 11th
August 1893 has been filled in as far as possible and is herewith submitted. The only
information available, which has been given in the statement in question, is the number of
shops and the amounts realized by the sale of the contract of drugs for the past twenty
years.
I regret that I am unable to furnish the other information required to complete the
statement in respect of import, export, and sale of drugs, as no such accounts have hitherto
been kept, and the present and the former contractors are unable to furnish the required
figures.
The hemp plant is cultivated in Ajmere-Merwara to only an exceedingly limited extent,
and here and there a few plants grow spontaneously. The total amount of hemp grown in
these districts is insignificant.
No license fees or fixed duty are levied in these districts: the revenue is derived by
selling the monopoly of the sale of drugs.
4. The points mooted in the memorandum referred to in paragraph 3 of Mr. McIntosh's
circular of the 11th August 1893 are dealt with below:
(1) Care is taken that the hemp plants are sold to the contractor. In the case of wild
plants they are either destroyed or sold to the contractor. A copy of the rules
regulating the cultivation, &c., of hemp is appended.
(2) With the exception of bhang and majam, no hemp drugs are manufactured in these
districts. Ganja and charas are imported from other districts, chiefly from the
Punjab.
(3) No duty is levied on the importation of any drugs—
(a) The controlling authority is the Collector of Ajmere. There is one uniform
system in Ajmere-Merwara, which is carried on under the Excise Act, XXII of
1881.
(b) A few wild plants are found here and there, but not to any large extent. The
possession and sale of these plants are regulated by the rules referred to above.
The plants being so few, no difficulty is experienced in controlling their possession
and sale.
(c) The cultivation of the hemp plant is permitted under the rules already referred to.
As a matter of fact, however, but very little hemp is cultivated, and that prin-
cipally by malis and the Brahmins of Pushkar.
(d) The sole importer of the drugs is the contractor, to whom a license for the
exclusive right of the sale of the drugs is granted. The import is covered by
rawannas from the authorities of the districts whence the drugs are exported.
On arrival the consignments are weighed and checked with the rawannas by the
Excise officers and the police.