I do not know the basis on which this money is to be allocated. If it is to be on the basis of past allocations there is no inducement at present or in the future for the provinces to extend cultivation. Sir, speaking of my own province, I must frankly confess that this comes to me as a great disappointment, because Orissa is undertaking a huge, extensive programme of jute cultivation. Added to it, the States of Orissa, which have been merged, were having lot of cultivation of jute. Are you going to deprive them of the benefits of this allocation? I do not know whether the provisions will benefit the Government of India or Pakistan. I leave it to honourable Members to think it out for themselves. My honourable Friend says that this is a very vicious principle and I agree with him. If anyone thinks that this is an undesirable course of action, they why have article 249 at all. This article apportions the excise duty on certain manufactures, such as medicinal and toilet Preparations, and the duties collected from these sources are to be assigned to the very provinces from which they are realised. If it is such a vicious Principle, why again embody the same in the Constitution? Sir, “consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.“
