States and Minorities

                                                                               (Gist)

A memorandum to Constituent Assembly -15 March 1947

(i) to secure the blessings both of self-government and good government throughout the united States of India to ourselves and to our posterity, (ii) to maintain the right of every subject to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness and to free speech and free exercise of religion, (iii) to remove social, political and economic inequality by providing better opportunities to the submerged classes, (iv) to make it possible for every subject to enjoy freedom from want and freedom from fear, and (v) to provide against internal disorder and external aggression,

Protection against Discrimination

(1) That industries which are key industries or which may be declared to be Protection key industries shall be owned and run by the State ; against Economic (2) That industries which are not key industries but Exploitation. which are basic industries shall be owned by the State and shall be run by the State or by Corporations established by the State ; (3) That Insurance shall be a monopoly of the State and that the State shall compel every adult citizen to take out a life insurance policy commensurate with his wages as may be prescribed by the Legislature ; (4) That agriculture shall be State Industry; (5) That State shall acquire the subsisting rights in such industries, insurance and agricultural land held by private individuals, whether as owners, tenants or mortgagees and pay them compensation in the form of debenture equal to the value of his or her right in the land. Provided that in reckoning the value of land,plant or security no account shall be taken of any rise therein due to emergency, of any potential or unearned value or any value for compulsory acquisition; (6) The State shall determine how and when the debenture holder shall be entitled to claim cash payment; (7) The debenture shall be transferable and inheritable property but neither the debenture holder nor the transferee from the original holder nor his heir shall be entitled to claim the return of the land or interest in any industrial concern acquired by the State or be entitled to deal with it in any way ; (8) The debenture-holder shall be entitled to interest on his debenture at such rate as may be defined by law, to be paid by the State in cash or in kind as the State may deem fit;

Right to Representation in the Legislature

(1) Quantum of Representation.—(i) The Scheduled Castes shall have minimum representation in the Legislature—Union and State—and if there bea group Constitution then in the group Legislature equal to the ratio of their population to the total population. Provided that no other minority is allowed to claim more representation than what is due to it on the basis of its population.

(ii) The Scheduled Castes of Sind and N.W.F. Provinces shall be given their due share of representation.

(iii) Weightage where it becomes necessary to reduce a huge communal majority to reasonable dimensions shall come out of the share of the majority. In no case shall it be at the cost of another minority community.

(iv) Weightage carved out from the share of majority shall not be assigned to one community only. But the same shall be divided among all minority communities equally or in inverse proportion to their

(1) economic position,

(2) social status, and

(3) educational advance.

(b) There should be no representation to special interests. But if the same is allowed it must be taken out of the share of representation given to that community to which the special interest belongs.

(2) Method of Election—

(A) For Legislative Bodies

(a) The system of election introduced by the Poona Pact shall be abolished.

(b) In its place, the system of Separate Electorates shall be substituted.

(c) Franchise shall be adult franchise.

(d) The system of voting shall be cumulative.

(B) For Local Bodies

The principles for determining the quantum of representation and the Method of election for Municipalities and Local Boards shall be the same as that adopted for the Union and State Legislatures.

(1) The Scheduled Castes shall have minimum representation in the Executive—Union and State—and if there be a group Constitution then in the group Executive equal to the ratio of their population to the total population. Provided that no minority community is allowed to claim more than its population ratio.

(2) Weightage where it becomes necessary to reduce a huge majority to reasonable dimensions shall come out of the share of the majority community. In no case shall it be at the cost of another minority community,

(3) Weightage carved out from the share of the majority shall not be assigned to one community only But the same shall be divided among all minorities equally or in inverse proportion to :

(i) their economic position.

(ii) social status, and

(iii) educational advance.

Right to Representation in the Services

In the Union Services, In the State and Group Services, In the Municipal and Local Board Services in proportion to their population

Their right to representation in the Services shall not be curtailed except by conditions relating to minimum qualifications, education, age, etc. The conditions prescribed for entry in Services shall not abrogate any of the concessions given to the Scheduled Castes by the Government of India in their Resolutions of 1942 and 1945.Political Democracy rests on four premises which may be set out in the following terms :

(i) The individual is an end in himself. (ii) That the individual has certain inalienable rights which must be guaranteed to him by the Constitution. (iii) That the individual shall not be required to relinquish any of his constitutional rights as a condition precedent to the receipt of a privilege. (iv) That the State shall not delegate powers to private persons to govern others.

The form of the Executive proposed in the clause is intended to serve the following purposes :

(i) To prevent the majority from forming a Government without giving any opportunity to the minorities to have a say in the matter.(ii) To prevent the majority from having exclusive control over administration and thereby make the tyranny of the minority by the majority possible.

(iii) To prevent the inclusion by the Majority Party in the Executive representatives of the minorities who have no confidence of the minorities. (iv) To provide a stable Executive necessary for good and efficient administration.

Was the basis for computation of the population of the Scheduled Castes in 1931 the same as in 1941 ? The answer is in the affirmative. The figures given for 1931 are the result of recasting of the Census of 1931 in the light of the definition of “Untouchables” given by the Lothian Committee. The same basis was adopted in 1941. It cannot therefore be said that the decline in the population of the Scheduled Castes in 1941 was due to an over-estimate made in 1931.