ENGLISH SHORTHAND DICTATION-206

 Mr. President, I have great pleasure in commending Clause 11 because it is a clause which mostly relates to a community, a vast regiment of people who are subjected to untold miseries for so many centuries. Sir, even nowadays we find traffic in human beings in some parts of India and this clause will have a great effect on the underdogs of this land who will have a voice when India gets her independence. This clause will bring about an economic revolution in the social structure existing in India. All the disabilities of the underdogs of this land are mainly due to the economic backwardness of the unfortunate brethren of the neglected community. It is unfortunate that a section of¹²⁰ the people of this land will have to work without getting any remuneration whatsoever, even for their daily maintenance and¹⁴⁰ (1) the people who work in the fields or in other places will have to go back to their homes even¹⁶⁰ without getting a single pie. They have not got the right to demand the wages even though they will work for day and night. If the people are called upon to work and if they do not go for that work, they will get punishments. That is what we find in certain provinces of India like the United Provinces. Even if there is not a system of forced labour in other parts of India, almost a similar sort of compulsion²⁴⁰ exists throughout India and the majority of the people are subjected to exploitation in all sorts of ways.

 

The underdogs of this land are deprived of the facilities that make life happy. This system ought to have been abolished even²⁸⁰ before the provinces got self-government. Even if there are rules (2) and regulations regarding this in certain Provinces, the system still prevails and the people who are subjected to the system have no voice whatsoever in deciding their fate. So, this³²⁰ clause will give great relief to a great number of people who are subjected to economic exploitation. When this sort of economic exploitation is eliminated from this land, the underdogs also will rise up and will be in a position³⁶⁰ to assert their rights and keep up their self-respect and dignity and they too will have a right to enjoy like the people belonging to the upper class and upper caste. I have great pleasure in supporting this clause. I have great pleasure in supporting this amendment to Clause 11. I accept the new draft of the clause.

Sir, I⁴²⁰ have studied a good deal of forced labour problems since 1929. I was a member of the Forced (3) Labour Convention in Geneva in 1929. India accepted the Forced Labour Convention in 1930, but the Indian States, with certain exceptions, did not accept it. That practice does not exist among the major States whose representatives I find today in this House. ⁴⁸⁰ Sir, in my part of the country forced labour has been taken advantage of by most of the small Indian States. They receive grants from the Government of India for construction of roads and utilize the money for their own purposes and by means of forced labour they construct roads and other civil works. Therefore, I do not apprehend the trouble which my friend has just now voiced. In case of national emergency, the State must come forward and⁵⁶⁰ everybody must compulsorily work for the country, be it war or famine or drought. But I do not want any lacuna left over which will allow some of the Indian Princes to use forced labour for their (4) own gains.

Sir, one⁶⁰⁰ point I am not satisfied with is whether traffic in human beings includes women’s traffic. Some of us have studied this problem about women's traffic for the last ten years or more. Unfortunately, every year thousands of women of Orissa⁶⁴⁰ and the Province of Bengal, where there are surplus women, are carried away to other parts of India. There is a regular traffic going on by crooks and gangsters who carry away these women to some outside Provinces. I do not know whether they are regular housewives or whether they lead the life of shame. We do know that⁷⁰⁰ in Provinces like Punjab, the number of women is less than the population of men.

Sir, we had the painful experience⁷²⁰ during the Bengal famine when lakhs of women were spirited away. Whether these women were taken to the provinces where there are less women or whether they were used to supply women to the huge British (5) army that was then in the eastern part of India, that is a problem that social workers must work out. But I would have been happy to see "traffic in women" being specifically mentioned in the clause. Those of us who belong to the⁸⁰⁰ eastern part of India still apprehend that in spite of this provision in the Fundamental Rights, traffic in women will be carried on by unscrupulous money makers. I, therefore, want Sardar Patel to assure me whether he has in contemplation⁸⁴⁰ some kind of legislation by which this traffic in women may be stopped for ever. Sir, I want a further assurance from the representatives of the Indian States here whether they will persuade their colleagues in the less advanced States to abolish forced labour which is a source of profit and gain to many small principalities in India.

Sir, I may be permitted to point out some of the difficulties that would present themselves if we (6) put the clause in the truncated form suggested? First of all, there can be no question, nobody can doubt for a moment that forced labour in any form must go. But there were certain qualifying Explanations in the original form of the clause which⁹⁶⁰ have now been omitted. Mr. President, going into the question as to whether there is necessity for the retention of⁹⁸⁰ the explanation or not, I am quite clear in my mind. So far as the first sub-clause is concerned, it will not preclude military conscription. In the Committee, there was a special clause inserted to the effect that there shall not be military conscription; but that has been omitted. In spite of the existence of slavery and anti-slavery clause in the United States Constitution, the Supreme Court of the United States has held that there is nothing to prevent military conscription being introduced. The learned Judges referred to various writers on international law and (7) they pointed out that the very¹⁰⁸⁰ existence of the State depends upon military force, and the slavery and anti-slavery or servitude clause cannot be construed as precluding the United States of America from introducing conscription.

Therefore, the words 'beggar and similar forms of forced labour' cannot¹¹²⁰ possibly be interpreted as excluding conscription. That is my view and I do not think that the future legislatures will be precluded from introducing conscription by reason of a clause like this. The word "similar" occurring in the clause makes it quite clear that it cannot have in view a military conscription law. Therefore, under those circumstances, there need not be any apprehension. That does not mean that I am opposed to the retention of the Explanation. It was pointed out¹²⁰⁰ yesterday in the Committee that the retention might give rise to considerable difficulties in the working of the village economy and village institutions, and no harm would result by the omission of the (8) explanation, and therefore, yesterday, in the course of the discussions in the Committee, it was omitted. I do not think there is any danger of military conscription¹²⁶⁰ being ruled out as a power inherent in the Union by reason of the forced labour clause as it stands. ¹²⁸⁰

There are two points referred to in the clause. First, traffic in human beings is prohibited, and, second, forced labour ought not to be allowed. Both these are already provided for in the Penal Code. Section 370 of the Indian Penal Code prohibits traffic in human beings, and Section 374 makes it an offence to compel any person to labour against his will, but the word "unlawful" is used there. "unlawful" means, it is lawful for any legislature to pass a law that for particular purposes labour may be enforced, as when a person is convicted of a crime and (9) he is sentenced to penal servitude, or in the interests of village administration when there are floods, the villagers¹⁴⁰⁰ may be obliged or forced to repair breaches in tanks, etc. It also allows compulsory military service.

Now that these two provisions which are already in the general law under sections 370 and 374 of the Indian Penal Code are raised¹⁴⁴⁰ to the status of Fundamental Rights, we have to be a little careful. When we are giving them the status of Fundamental Rights, unless we add other explanations allowing the State to make an exception to these two Fundamental Rights which are now being given, it might appear that by taking these provisions out of the ordinary law and placing them in the Statute Book as Fundamental Rights, we are taking away the State’s jurisdiction to legislate for such purposes even under an emergency and that is not correct. ¹⁵³⁰ (10)