Essay, Paragraph, Speech on “Prohibition” Long, Short Essay for School, College Students, essay for Class 8, 9, 10, 12 and Competitive Exams

Prohibition

Essay No. 01

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 Bombay, Madras, etc, have been encouraging and highly illuminating. Prohibition has come as a savior to innumerable families that 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 a 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 a sizeable revenue and its importance cannot be under-estimated 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 is prohibited areas are available and prohibition seems to have benefitted only the anti-social elements.

Essay No. 02

Prohibition

The fast-paced world today exerts constant pressure on resources to cope with the ever-increasing social and employment problems and makes an individual vulnerable to take to drinking.

Consumption of alcohol has been a part of human civilization right from its inception, ancient texts are full of examples of alcohol and wine consumption. However, an ancient historic sanction or a strained modern-day living is no reason for any human being to get addicted to alcohol. Nearly 40% of the population today is alcoholic or close to becoming one. This problem is further compounded by the social drinkers who often indulge in it after every sun-down. Further various governmental agencies also encourage this habit by officially licensing its production. Liquor is a major revenue-earning industry for the country.

Drinking destroys the body systems like the digestive, circulatory, nervous and excretory systems. It gives birth to anti-social habits like robbery, gambling, prostitution, begging, violence, etc. Liquor causes a split between the families, drives young suffering wives and children to suicide, deprives sick of their medicine and hungry of their food. It makes a human being socially useless. It diverts scarce financial resources away from their useful application. Indirectly it also creates more drug and alcohol addicts among the children.

Efforts have been made from time to time to inculcate in the people the habit of abstaining from liquor. Great social reformers like Jai Prakash Narain, Gandhiji, Vinobha Bhave, Acharya Kriplani, etc. had given out a clarion call to the masses to do away with this evil habit

At present there are two kinds of prohibition movements in the country, 1-Women from all walks of life have come forward individually or under an umbrella of the organization to fight the menace of liquor. They have taken out processions, sat on dharnas in front of liquor joints, and attacked the country liquor brewing areas in an effort to put a stop to this act. Any drunken person when caught is beaten black and blue by them and later on socially boycotted. Anybody found violating this locally imposed prohibition is forced to publicly apologize, else he is punished.

Various state governments have enforced prohibition in their respective states. They have withdrawn the licenses of liquor traders and given notices to people involved in the production to close down their activities. As a part of their election manifests, many political parties have started actively campaigning for prohibition

However, there is a sizable population in our midst which is against prohibition. According to them, prohibition can never be effectively imposed. They cite examples of Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh where prohibition has been on and off in force. They say that prohibition had spawned a parallel illicit liquor industry. This underground economy is also instrumental in breeding an extremely powerful country liquor racket involving top politicians, criminals, bureaucrats, and law enforcement officials. They also say that, in this way the government loses its income, the evil goes underground and festers, causing untold miseries to people.

It is only by strict enforcement of prohibition and streamlining of the enforcement agencies along with door-to-door public awareness campaigns involving all the sections of the society and amendment and implementation of laws that make drinking illegal, one can hope to considerably overcome this evil of drinking.