Explanation:

The 1882 Salt Act gave the British a monopoly on the collection and manufacture of salt,limiting its handling to government salt depots and levying a salt tax.Violation of the Salt Act was a criminal offence. Even though salt was freely available to those living on the coast (by evaporation of sea water),Indians were forced to purchase it from the colonial government.The salt tax was a deeply symbolic choice, since salt was used by nearly everyone in India, to replace the salt lost by sweating in India's tropical climate.The salt tax represented 8.2% of the British Raj tax revenue, and hurt the poorest Indians the most significantly.