70
REPORT OF THE INDIAN HEMP DRUGS COMMISSION, 1893-94.
[APP.
excessive and reduced to 30 days on the recommendation of the Deputy Commissioner, Nimar.
It was found that cultivators took advantage of the long period allowed to keep their crop in
the villages as long as possible, thus entailing increased expense on Government for watch and
ward and securing great opportunities for pilfering and illicit transfers.
48. 1889-90 was the last year in which cultivation was permitted in the Katol tahsil.
The cultivators there had never been able since the introduction of the system of levying a
direct duty in its existing shape to obtain a fair price for their produce, the reason apparent-
ly being that it was of inferior quality. Moreover, it was by this time certain that the
amount raised in Khandwa was far in excess of provincial requirements, and would suffice to
meet them even in a year of bad harvest. Accordingly, in May 1890 notices were issued to
the Katol cultivators that they would not be allowed to raise ganja any more. The formal
notification restricting cultivation to the Khandwa tahsil of the Nimar district was not issued
till July 1891, the opportunity being taken of revising generally the rules of 1882.
49. The revised rules are printed as Appendix O* to this Memorandum: they are for the
most part identical with those of 1882 as amended up to date, but include in addition one (3)
relating to the practice of conducting harvest operations under Government supervision and
two (6 and 7) calculated to ensure payment of registration and storage fees: a rule (10) was also
added prescribing payment of storage fees and at the same time exempting cultivators and
wholesale vendors of the Central Provinces from liability to such fees for a period of one
month from dates of storage and purchase respectively. A minor change was made in respect
of the authority to grant through transport passes, which were to be obtainable only from the
Commissioner of Excise, instead of from the Deputy Commissioner of either Nagpur or Nimar.
50. In 1891 rules for the management of the Khandwa ganja store-house were drawn
up, and were finally approved of by the Chief Commissioner in December of that year.
Those rules are printed as Appendix P* to this Memorandum: they are full and explicit, and
do not call for any comment here.
51. Lastly, the conduct of retail shops has been sensibly altered in two ways. In August
1890 the Chief Commissioner directed the insertion in all retail licenses to be thereafter granted
for the sale of any intoxicating drug of a condition that consumption on the premises should
not be permitted: this condition has been enforced throughout the Central Provinces since the
1st April 1891. The other change consisted in recasting the form of license for retail sale
of ganja, and including in it a prohibition of sales on credit and by way of barter and a re-
quirement that purchases shall be made direct from the wholesale vendor for each shop sepa-
rately, shall be entered in the pass-book of the shop for which the ganja is intended, and shall
then be taken to that shop and to no other: the amended form is printed as Appendix Q*
to this Memorandum.
52. The total revenue from hemp-drugs has risen during the past 5 years from 2 to over
21/2 lakhs, and is now considerably more than double what it was in 1882-83, the year in which
the present arrangements for supply of ganja to retail vendors were initiated.
The following table shows how the position of districts has altered during this quinquen-
nium in respect of consumption of taxed ganja and receipts on wholesale and retail licenses for
the sale of that drug: the revenue from bhang and majum being comparatively insignificant is
not taken into account:—
DISTRICT.
CONSUMPTION OF
TAXES GANJA.
WHOLESALE LICENSE
FEES.
RETAIL LICENSE
FEES.
DISTRICT.
ORDER
OF
POPULA-
TION
CONSUMPTION OF
TAXES GANJA.
WHOLESALE LICENSE
FEES.
RETAIL LICENSE
FEES.
DISTRICT.
ORDER
OF
POPULA-
TION
DISTRICT.
ORDER
OF
POPULA-
TION
DISTRICT.
1887-88.
1882-93.
1887-88.
1892-93.
1887-88.
1892-93.
DISTRICT.
1887-88.
1892-93.
Mds.
Order.
Mds.
Order.
Rs.
Order.
Rs.
Order.
Rs.
Order.
Rs.
Order.
Nagpur
3
4 57
6 73
7
1,004
5
1,461
7 12,667
2 15,455
2
Bhandara
6
6 36 10 62
8
620 10
1,238
9
7,840
5
8,001
8
Chanda
7
7 18 16 23 16
18
116 18
1,714 17
2,396 17
Wardha
10 10 25 14 28 15
249 14
563 15
2,175 16
2,160 18
Balaghat
12 11 74
3 118 3
1,284
3
2,367
3
7,281
6
8,691
7
Jubbulpur
5
5 114 1 128 2
2,716
1
2,879
2 18,679
1 19,934
1
Sangor
8 8 82 11 33 14
468 13
574 14
5,683
8
5,071 13
Damoh
14 16 21 15 34 13
213 16
704 12
3,068 13
3,070 14
Seoni
13 12 65
5 79
6
1,135
4
1,589
6
8,164
3 11,846
4
Mandla
17 15 38
9 52 10
901
8
916 10
4,710 11
6,847
9
Hoshangabad
9
9 65
4 60
9
976
6
1,274
8
5,201
9
6,014 11
Betnl
16 17 17 17 23 17
210 17
400 16
2,833 15
2,936 15
Chhindwara
15 14 31 12 35 13
540 11
687 13
5,098 10
6,494 10
Narsinghpur
11 13 39
8 35 11
877
9
705 11
7,257
7
5,125 12
Nimar
18 18 12 18 19 18
245 15
370 17
835 18
2,609 16
Raipur
1
1 103
2 189
1
3,810
2
3,787
1
8,035
4
12,038
3
Bilaspur
2
3 53
7 108
4
935
7 2,156 4
4,398 12
9,936
5
Sambulpur
4
2 31 13 95
5
533 12
1,897 5 2,995 14 8,934 6
* Not printed.