Gambling in India: Past, present and future.

Gambling has been a popular pastime in ancient and colonial India, and continues to be in modern India. Problem gambling is an important public health issue because of its prevalence, increased risk to certain vulnerable groups and its numerous adverse consequences to the gambler, his/her family and the wider society. In this paper, we present an overview of gambling in ancient and modern India, and also suggest a public health approach aimed at reducing gambling-related harm and associated problems.