Hon.
Chairperson, I should like to make one
proposal. Although the question of universal adult suffrage has been
pointed out by certain members of this Committee to be not possible or practicable,
it seems to me that it may be possible to have, at any rate,
adult suffrage for the Depressed Classes. There is no reason
why all communities should have the same franchise. In fact, there may even
be cases which we find in the practical affairs of life, that
in order to reach equality of status, we may have to adopt methods of
inequality. In the matter of treating the richer class as against the
poorer, we do enact certain special measures for the benefit of the
latter.120 We tax the richer
class at a higher rate than the poorer, with the object that the principle of
ability140 to pay the tax may
be realized in practice. I think that the same consideration might be
applied to the160 Depressed
Classes. If the object of the Committee is that all communities should be
represented in equal proportion in the electorate, there is no reason
why one class of people may not be treated differently from another class of
people if a different sort of treatment is the only means available for the
purpose. It seems to me that if adult suffrage were applied to the
Depressed Class and not to other communities, but other communities had a
system such240 as my
honourable friend has suggested, it would not be in reality any
difference at all, and it would not put any great pressure on the
electoral machinery available in the Provinces, having regard to the peculiar
position of the280 Depressed
Classes, and having regard also to the consensus of opinion that no other
system of franchise would give them the vote and without the vote there
would be no solicitude expressed for them by any candidate
who stands for320 the
Legislature at the present time. I think that the Committee would not do any
great harm if it recognized the application of this principle to the Depressed
Classes.
We are now discussing the question of
the educational qualification. 360
I may just remind you that the second conclusion to which we came was that in
any given area the franchise qualification should be the same for all
communities. We desire that the Expert Franchise Committee should bear in mind
that the ideal system would give each community a voting strength proportional
to its population and this Committee should so420
contrive their franchise as to bring about this result. I am afraid that
is rather a counsel of perfection, but at the same time the only way in
which we can possibly expect them to carry that out is if we give them a
certain latitude. Therefore, in considering all these questions of educational
qualifications and so on, you have to480
remember that unless you authorize the Franchise Committee to take these into
account, you are restricting and not enlarging their possibility of action. I
should like to say a word on this subject, without prejudice to the
position we have taken all along. It seems to me that as compared with the
alternatives which have been suggested, the recommendation made by the Simon
Commission seems to me to be better and to be more readily acceptable from
my point560 of view. It might
be much better to have some authority which will investigate at the end
of a definite period exactly what has been the result of the working of
the franchise up to that period. That body will be600 able to see what disparity there
has been as between the different provinces. That body will be able to see
what is the machinery existing at the end of the ten years, in order to cope
with the elections if640
the franchise were to be altered. That body will be able to deal with the
rights of the mass of the people much more readily, in a much more just and
equitable way, than the class-conscious people who may be installed as
a result of the limited franchise which we are introducing today. For
these reasons, it seems to700
me that the proposals of the Simon Commission are better than the alternatives.
Sir, what I want to do is to720 move an amendment that immediate
steps be taken to see that recruitment to the Indian Army is thrown
open to all subjects of His Majesty, including the Depressed Classes, consistently
with consideration of efficiency and the possession of the necessary
qualifications. I do not merely wish to have this matter recorded; I wish to
move it as a substantive amendment, so that the sense of the House may
be taken on it. My amendment is very simple one; it seeks800 to remove all discriminations
between the different classes of His Majesty’s subjects to enter Military
Service. No doubt I move the amendment primarily with a view to
protecting the specific rights of the depressed classes, but in doing so840 I am not asking the Committee to
confer any favour, I am asking the Committee to see us realize in practice the
principle recognized in the Government of India Act, that no subject of
His Majesty shall be debarred from entering any Public Service by reason of his
caste, creed or colour. Therefore, I do not think I am asking for any
special favour. I may point out to you that this amendment is on the lines
adopted by the Service Committee. If you refer to the Report of Service
Committee appointed by this Committee, you will find that the Service
Committee did make a serious effort to see that all subjects of His Majesty had
a fair and adequate960 chance
in Public Services of the country. The Committee not only enunciated
certain fundamental rights protecting subjects of His Majesty980 from being debarred from entering any
Public Service, but it went out of its way to make special recommendations,
mentioning certain specific communities, such as the Anglo-Indians and
the Depressed Classes. But, this amendment is not merely in the
interests of the Depressed Classes. I submit that it is also in the
interests of all communities and subjects of His Majesty. I think that it is
a great public danger that any community in India should be allowed to monopolize
any services in the country. I say it is a great public danger, because
it not only excites a sense1080
of superiority in these particular communities which have been placed in
the position of advantage, but it also jeopardizes the welfare of the people
by making them dependent upon the protection afforded to them by certain
specific communities. I therefore1120
submit that as we are enunciating a new constitution for India, we ought to
begin with a system which will permit every member of His Majesty’s community
to play such part as he is capable of by reason of his fitness in any
Public Service of the country.
Sir, I must say that I do not
hold a very strong opinion on the question as to whether there should be
a Committee appointed or not, in order to give guidance1200 to the future Government of India, but
there are two matters upon which I do hold a very strong opinion. The first is
that I think the time has arrived when instead of having one common Indian
Civil Service to men of all departments, we should have hereafter some
provision made for the specialization of Services in order that
efficiency1260 may be more
greatly secured than it is now. I am not going to say anything as
regards the capacity1280
of the Indian Civil Service, because I think that it is generally admitted that
it is a capable Civil Service, but I do maintain that the kind of training that
one gets in the Indian Civil Service is not sufficient for the discharge of
certain duties in certain technical, or otherwise specialized departments.
Consequently, it is necessary that some reorganization should take place
in the Indian Civil Service in order that we may get greater efficiency in the
Service. That is one thing upon which I feel very strongly. Although we have
all agreed that there must be Indianization in the Indian Civil
Service and that there must be more rapid Indianization in the Indian
Civil Service than has been1400
contemplated hitherto, my submission to the Committee is that, looking at the
problem from the standpoint of the Indian tax-payer, it is far more
necessary that this Indianization should not merely be a change in
the personnel of the Service, 1440
but the Indianization must be accompanied by some lowering of the burden
on the Indian tax-payer. There must be some differentiation in
the remuneration, the salary, the pay and the pensions, and other
privileges of the Indian element of the Indian Civil Service as compared with
what is granted to the European element of the Indian Civil Service. If this
Sub-committee accepts the two points that I am placing before them, namely,
the necessity for diversification in the Indian Civil Service, and also
the necessity for differentiation in the remuneration between the two elements
in the Indian Civil Service, then I think that it is a necessary corollary
that there ought to be somebody set up to advise the Government of India
to carry into effect these recommendations. It is for these reasons that I
support the suggestion that, after the new Constitution is brought into
effect, the Government of India should be empowered to set up such a committee1600 as is recommended in Clause 6.
