It is tempting. The lure of quick and
easy money is indeed tempting. It is in human instinct. It is said that had
Yudhistir resisted the temptation of playing dice with the Kauravas and losing
Draupadi in the gamble, there would not have been Mahabharat.
In India or for that matter in the
world, gambling is as old as our civilization. Recent uproar over huge betting
running into hundreds of thousands of crores on cricket matches in the IPL
league has given impetus to a particular lobby who wants gambling to be
legalized in India. Their argument is that India like Europe and America will
earn revenues running into billions. According to one estimate, total betting
in India (all illegal) runs into over three lakh crores in a year.
One should not forget that India is a
welfare state and we are duty bound to protect the vast majority of ordinary
people from the lure of gambling. The recent spate of suicides in West Bengal
following the burst of Sharadha Chit Fund should be an eye opener. Mere earning of revenue is not
and should not be only goal of any
government in the country. If raising funds is the only objective, India should
not only open a chain of gambling dens and casinos but should also run ‘prostitution
centres’ with government license. Despite strong lobby of tourism industry, the
centre did not allow casinos in major cities of Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata,
Chennai, Hyderabad and Banglore. The only exception is Goa where a casino runs.
What happened in West Bengal was
promise of the promoters of the chit funds to give handsome returns on their
deposit- far exceeding the return from any mode of savings. Some were driven to
the lure because of sheer poverty others went willfully into the trap to
multiply their cash in short time. The end result was death and destruction of
families.
The votaries of legal gambling in
India may argue that those putting bet on cricket matches or elections results
are not poor or common man. It is absolutely wrong. Even in small towns like
Jamshedpur and Ranchi in Jharkhand people put money on bet during the IPL
league. The daily betting amount ran into more than a crore of rupees.
The betting is not confined to
matches. People bet on rain forecast. Habitual gamblers bet on anything and
everything.
Lotteries were and still are popular
gamble. Many State Governments used to run lottery and allow private players to
sell lottery tickets. It resulted in many poor people losing their hard earned
money to lottery; many committed suicides. The governments were forced to ban
lottery. Only few states like Punjab and some states in the North East run
lottery.
In Mumbai, Matka is popular and is a
daily betting game on numbers. It is banned. Yet many people play it. Think
what would happen if gambling is legalized. The number of participants would
multiply and ordinary people instead of buying ration and vegetable would put
their money on betting.
Addiction is bad. Like gambling,
people are also addicted to drinking. I recall a short story that we read as
part of our school syllabus. Noted litterateur and novelist Munshi Premchand
had written a short story ‘Kafan’. It tells about a man and his son. The wife
of the man dies and there is not enough money even to by the shroud. People
around collect money and give it to the man to buy the cloth for shroud. The
duo, father and the son set out to fetch the cloth from market. On way there is
a tavern. They go to the tavern and drink the money as the body of the woman
lay in the courtyard of the house. It is a grim reminder of the ruin that
gambling can bring to India.
For the rich and affluent no
destination is far. They can go to Las Vegas and Monte Carlo to play in style
of legendary film character James Bond. But everybody is not 007.
~ R. K. Sinha
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