Essay on Prohibition

Prohibition in India is essential both from material and moral points of view. The intoxicating drinks have ruined many a family by draining their financial resources and by creating complicated domestic problems. The hard earned money has been wasted on intoxicants by imprudent people and it has brought untold misery to their families. A drunk­ard is a curse to his family and a nuisance to society.

Moreover, our climatic conditions make such drinks unnecessary and even harmful to our physical and mental health. The intoxicants may be a necessity in the West be­cause of the biting cold in these countries but even in the West there are laws to prevent the evil of drunkenness which is socially denounced. It is the duty of the State to put an end to all corrupting influences and our Government is jus­tified in pursuing the policy of prohibition which promotes the welfare of the people.

The practical results of prohibition in the case of the labor class in big cities like Mumbai, Chennai, etc, have been encouraging and highly illuminat­ing. Prohibition has come as a saviour to innumerable-families which erstwhile were on the way to ruin.

Prohibition imposes restrictions on the use of intoxicat­ing drinks. This is undue interference by the State in the private life of the people. Drinking should be regarded as one of the habits which are best left to the discretion of the individual. The habit of drinking is very common in the West and no one looks down upon it on moral grounds.

Medical experts also hold the view that alcoholic drinks, if taken within limits, are good for health. Moreover, prohibition cannot be imposed on people by resorting to law. It only gives rise to bootlegging and other anti-social activities. The United States of America was the first country to en­force prohibition but the experiment failed miserably. Any measures, however good but taken against the will of the people, are bound to end in fiasco.

Again, economic considerations also militate against the imposition of prohibition in India. The taxes on the produc­tion, distribution and consumption of alcoholic drinks fetch sizeable revenue and its importance cannot be underesti­mated in the present times when every paisa matters in the task of national reconstruction.

The States where prohibition has been enforced have been deprived of considerable rev­enues which could have been utilized in the execution of plans aiming at raising the standard of living of the people. Besides, wine in prohibited areas is available and prohibition seems to have benefited only the antisocial elements.