Vol. 1 · pages 416–420

STATES AND MINORITIES 401 ARTICLE II—Section IV SAFEGUARDS FOR THE SCHEDULED CASTES PART I—G UARANTEES The Constitution of the United States of India shall guarantee to the Scheduled Castes the following Rights: Clause 1 Right to Representation in the Legislature (1) Quantum of Representation.—(a) (i) The Scheduled Castes shall have minimum representation in the Legislature—Union and State—and if there be a 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. Right to Representation in the Legislature. (For explanation, see pages 419-24)

402 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES Clause 2 (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. Clause 3 Right to Representation in the Services (a) The quantum of representation of the Scheduled Castes in the Services shall be as follows : (i) In the Union Services. —In proportion to the ratio of their population to the total population in India or British India as the case may be. (ii) In the State and Group Services. —In proportion to their population in the State or Union. (iii) In the Municipal and Local Board Services. —In proportion to their population in the Municipal and Local Boards areas : Provided that no minority community is allowed to claim more than its population ratio of representation in the Services. (b) Their right to representation in the Services shall not be curtailed except by conditions relating to minimum qualifications, education, age, etc. (c) 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. (d) The method of filling up the vacancies shall conform to the rules prescribed in the Government of India Resolutions of 1942 and 1946. (e) On every Public Services Commission or a Committee constituted for filling vacancies, the Scheduled Castes shall have at least one representative. PART II—S PECIAL RESPONSIBILITIES That the United States of India shall undertake the following special responsibilities for the betterment of the Scheduled Castes : Right to Representation in the Executive. (For explanation, see pages 424-25) Right to Representation in services. (For explanation, see page 425) Provisions for Higher Education (For explanation, see page 425)

STATES AND MINORITIES 403 Clause 1 (1) Governments—Union and State—shall be required to assume financial responsibility for the higher education of the Scheduled Castes and shall be required to make adequate provisions in their budgets. Such Provisions shall form the first charge on the Education Budget of the Union and State Government. (2) The responsibility for finding money for secondary and college education of the Scheduled Castes in India shall be upon the State Governments and the different States shall make a provision in their annual budgets for the said purpose in proportion to the population of the Scheduled Castes to the total budget of the States. (3) The responsibility for finding money for foreign education of the Scheduled Castes shall be the responsibility of the Union Government and the Union Government shall make a provision of rupees 10 lakhs per year in its annual budget in that behalf. (4) These special grants shall be without prejudice to the right of the Scheduled Castes to share in the expenditure incurred by the State Government for the advancement of primary education for the people of the State. Clause 2 1. The following provision shall be made in the Constitution of the Union Government : (i) There shall be a Settlement Commission under the new Constitution to hold uncultivated lands belonging to the State in trust for Settlement of the Scheduled Castes in separate villages. (ii) The Union Government shall set apart annually a fund of Rs. 5 crores for the purpose of promoting the scheme of settlement. (iii) That the Commission shall have the power to purchase any land offered for sale and use it for the said purpose. 2. The Union Government shall from time to time pass such legislation as may be necessary for the Commission to carry out its functions. PART III—S ANCTION FOR SAFEGUARDS AND AMENDMENT OF SAFEGUARDS Clause 1 The Constitution of the United States shall provide that— The United States of India undertakes to give the safeguards contained in Article II Section IV a place in the Constitution and make them a part of the Constitutional Law of India. Provision for New Settlements. (For explanation. see pages 425-26) Sanction for safeguards. (For explanation, see pages 426-28)

404 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES Clause 2 The provisions for the Scheduled Castes shall not be altered, amended or abrogated except in the following manner : Any amendment or abrogation of Section IV of Article II or any part thereof relating to the Scheduled Castes shall only be made by a Resolution passed in the manner prescribed below by the more Popular Chamber of the Union Legislature : (i) Any proposal for amendment or abrogation shall be initiated in the form of a Resolution in the more Popular Chamber of the Union Legislature. (ii) No such Resolution shall be moved— ( a) unless 25 years have elapsed after the Constitution has come into operation and has been worked ; and ( b) unless six months’ notice has been given to the House by the mover of his intention to move such a Resolution. (iii) On the passing of such a Resolution, the Legislature shall be dissolved and a new election held. (iv) The original Resolution in the form in which it was passed by the previous Legislature shall be moved afresh in the same House of the newly elected Union Legislature. (v) The Resolution shall not be deemed to have been carried unless it is passed by a majority of two-thirds of the members of the House and also two-thirds of members of the Scheduled Castes who have been returned through separate electorates. PART IV—PROTECTION OF SCHEDULED CASTES IN THE INDIAN STATES The Constitution of the United States shall provide that the admission of the Indian States into the Union shall be subject to the following condition : “All provisions relating to the Scheduled Castes contained in Section IV of Article II of the Constitution of the United States of India shall be extended to the Scheduled Castes in the Indian States. Such a provision in the Constitution of an Indian States shall be a condition precedent for its admission into the Union.” PART V—INTERPRETATION I. For the purposes of Article II the Scheduled Castes, as defined in the Government of India Scheduled Caste Order, 1936, issued under the Government of India Act, 1935, shall be deemed to be a minority. II. For the purposes of Article II a Caste which is a Scheduled Caste in one State shall be treated as Scheduled Caste in all States of the Union. Mode of Amendment of safeguards. (For explanation, see page 428). Safeguards for Scheduled Castes in Indian States. (For explanation, see page 428) Scheduled Castes a Minority. (For explanation, see page 428) Scheduled Castes and change of Domicile. (For explanation, see page 428)

STATES AND MINORITIES 405 Appendix I EXPLANATORY NOTES Preamble The Preamble gives constitutional shape and form to the Resolution on objectives passed by the Constituent Assembly on Wednesday the 22nd January 1947. ARTICLE I—Section I Clauses 1 to 4 The admission of the six hundred and odd Indian States into the Union raises many difficult questions. The most difficult of them is the one which relates to their admission into the Union. Every Indian State is claiming to be a Sovereign State and is demanding to be admitted into the Union in its own right. The Indian States fall into different classes from the view of size, population, revenue and resources. It is obvious that every State admitted into the Union as a State must have the capacity to bear the burden of modern administration to maintain peace within its own borders and to possess the resources necessary for the economic advancement of its people. Otherwise, the United States of India is likely to be encumbered with a large number of weak States which, instead of being a help to the Central Government, will be a burden upon it. The Union Government with such small and weak States as its units will never be able to pull its full weight in an emergency. It is therefore obvious that it would be a grave danger to the future safety of India if every Indian State were admitted into the Union without any scrutiny of its capacity to bear the burden of modern administration and maintaining internal peace. To avoid this danger, the Article proceeds to divide the Indian States into two classes: (1) Qualified Indian States and (2) Unqualified Indian States. It proposes that a list of Qualified Indian States should be drawn up as a first step in the procedure to be followed for the admission of the Indian States into the Union. A Qualified Indian State will be admitted into the Union on an application for admission and the fulfilment of the provisions of the Enabling Act which the Union Legislature is authorized to pass for the purpose of requiring an appropriate form of internal Government set up within the State which will be in consonance to the principles underlying the Constitution of the United States of India. The territory in the occupation of the Unqualified Indian States will be treated as the territory of the United States of India and will be reorganized into States of suitable sizes by the United States of India. In the meantime those who are rulers of the territory shall continue to administer the territory under the supervision of the United States of India. The Act also declares that the Indian territory whether in the occupation of British Indian Provinces or of the Indian States is one and integral and will be so even though an Indian State has not entered into the Union.