Vol. 10 · pages 136–140

119 THE INDIAN TRADE UNIONS (AMENDMENT) BILL The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : It is not a blank mind; it is an open mind. That is the way I would like to define my position correctly. Mr. Griffiths as well as other Members who spoke on the Bill said that the Government was not justified or rather, to use their own words, Government was illogical in applying clause 27J by exempting Government undertakings from the operation of this Bill. Now, Sir, the first point that I would like to make in reply to the contention is that Logic is certainly not always life. There are many occasions when illogicality would reduce ourselves to extremism and I do not think any man would prefer extremism to illogicality. Personally myself, I think, if anything could be said with regard to clause 28J, it could be said that Government is not timid, Government is not illogical; Government is wise and Government is cautious. I think that this clause has been somewhat misunderstood. There is no intention to exempt Government from the provisions of this Bill. All that is said is this that a date will be fixed when the provisions of this Bill will be applied to Government undertakings. Therefore, if there is any discrimination made in favour of the Government, it is not with regard to the application of the Bill but with regard to the date on which it will become applicable to Government. Mr. P. J. Griffiths : Why is that made ? The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : There may be necessity for it. Mr. P. J. Griffiths : What is it ? The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : As I said, I do not want to enter into controversy at this stage and as the Secretary of the Posts and Telegraphs Department said, Government feels that, at any rate for the present, the Government Departments who are employers of labour have made sufficient provision for the recognition of their trade unions. And in view of the fact that Government has certainly been far more ready to recognise Trade Unions than private employers, I do not think that the interests of labour will suffer if the date for the application of this Bill is postponed. Sir, I have nothing more to say. Mr. President (The Honourable Sir Abdur Rahim): The question is: “ That the Bill further to amend the Indian Trade Unions Act, 1926, be circulated for the purpose of eliciting opinion thereon. ”. The Motion was adopted. zz

22 * Post-war Development of Electric Power in India Dr. Ambedkar’s Address Problems relating to the post-war development of electric power in India were discussed by the Reconstruction Policy Committee which met in New Delhi on October 25, the Hon’ble Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, Member for Labour, Government of India, presiding. A number of delegates from the Provincial Governments, leading power States and engineering interests attended the meeting on the invitation of the Central Government. The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, addressing the Committee, said: Gentlemen, I welcome you to this meeting of the Policy Committee of the Reconstruction Committee No. 3C. A Chairman has both the obligation and the privilege of making an opening speech. The obligation I accept. But I do not wish to abuse the privilege by inflicting upon you a long speech. All I propose to do is to put certain relevant facts into focus so that our attention may be riveted upon them. For the information of those of you who do not know the machinery set up by the Government of India to study the various problems of reconstruction but whose participation is necessary I would like, if I may briefly, to refer to the plan of work which has been adopted for the better and most expeditious way of carrying out the work taken up by the Reconstruction Committee of Council. Five Committees It is, I am sure, within your knowledge that the ex-Viceroy, Lord Linlithgow in March last decided to have a Reconstruction Committee * Indian Information, November 15, 1943, pp. 279-81.

121 POST-WAR DEVELOPMENT OF ELECTRIC POWER IN INDIA of Council under the chairmanship of my gallant friend and colleague the Hon’ble Sir J. P. Srivastava. The Reconstruction Committee of Council has set up five different Reconstruction Committees. Committee No. I deals with Re-Settlement and Re-Employment, Committee No. II with Disposals, Contracts and Government Purchases. The work of Committee No. III is partitioned among three Committees— Committee No. 3A deals with Transport, No. 3B with Posts, Telegraphs and Air Communications, and No. 3C with Public Works and Electric Power. Committee No. IV is concerned with Trade and Industry, and Committee No. V with Agriculture. Each of these Committees has a Policy Committee which works under the presidentship of a Member of Council which is composed of the representatives of the Central Government, Provincial Governments, State Governments, and such representatives of trade, industry and commerce as are considered necessary. Each has also an official committee which works under the chairmanship of the Secretary to the Department and is composed of the Secretaries of other Departments concerned. In addition to these two sets of Committees, some of the Reconstruction Committees have a third committee called Subject Committee to deal with technical subjects arising within its field. In addition to these there is an official committee on Social Services and a Consultative Committee of Economists. Such is the plan of work devised by the Central Government to deal with the problems of Reconstruction. Ours is a meeting of the Policy Committee of the Reconstruction Committee No. 3C. The task of this Committee is to study the problems connected with electric power and to make a recommendation as to the best way of solving them. Before I enter upon an analysis of the problems, there is one question relating to generation of electric power to which I wish to make a reference at an early stage as I wish to get it out of the way. It relates to the question of procurement of machinery, tools and plants that would be necessary for the generation of electrical power. That machinery will have to be obtained from outside, mostly from Great Britain. The prospect of obtaining such machinery is not free from difficulty. Great Britain would require a great deal of her productive capacity to be reserved for her own needs.

122 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES There are other European and Asiatic countries which would be in the British and American markets to acquire the necessary stock of tools and plants. In this competition India may find it difficult to obtain the quota she will need. To safeguard India’s position it would be desirable if India could register her orders for tools and plants as early as possible and secure as great a priority as can be done. The difficulties regarding priority may not be very great. I feel quite certain that we can depend upon His Majesty’s Government to secure for India high priority in view of the aid she has rendered in this War. But there are other difficulties mainly arising from making up the indents and placing them with the manufacturers as firm orders. In the first place, electricity is a purely provincial subject. The estimates as to tools and machinery must, therefore, come from the Provinces. The Centre can only sum them up. In the second place, the type of machinery will depend upon the decision as to the prime mover that is to be used for the generation of electricity, whether water, steam, oil, etc. The third difficulty arises out of the uncertainty of the attitude of the governments which will come into existence after the war. Will the future Government accept the plans and programmes set out by the present Government ? Will the future Governments maintain the level of taxation which the plans and the programmes made by the present Government will require ? On these questions one cannot be sure. All the same it seems that this Government would be failing in its duty if it did not make secure the prospect of India getting the tools and plants necessary for electrification at the end of the war. Functions Of Policy Committee I mention this matter as being urgent and important. But I am sure you will understand that this is not the matter with which this Committee is primarily concerned. This is a Policy Committee and our primary concern is to deal with the problems arising out of the administration, production and distribution of electricity and to recommend what we regard as the principles which should guide the future Government of India. We have taken advantage today of our meeting of our Policy Committee to ask Provincial Governments and State Governments to send representatives to this meeting to give us the benefit of their views.

123 POST-WAR DEVELOPMENT OF ELECTRIC POWER IN INDIA The treatment of electricity as a matter of public concern has passed through many vicissitudes. The Government of India seems to have become aware of it for the first time in 1905 when, I find, a circular letter was issued by it to the Provincial Governments. Thereafter both the Provincial Governments and the Central Government seem to have gone to bed. They woke up when the urgency of active interest in electricity was emphasized by the Report of the Indian Industrial Commission published in 1918 and the Report of the Indian Munitions Board which came out a year later. The Industrial Commission recommended the necessity for a Hydrographic Survey of India to be undertaken by Government rather than by private enterprise. The Government of India accepted this recommendation and appointed the late Mr. G.T. Barlow, C.I.E., then Chief Engineer, Irrigation Branch, the United Provinces, to take charge of the Hydrographic Survey as Chief Engineer, associating with him in the enquiry Mr. J. M. Mcarcs, M.I.C.E., Electrical Adviser to the Government of India. Soon after Mr. Barlow died, and his work was carried on by Mr. Mcares who produced three most excellent reports between 1919 and 1922 containing information Province by Province regarding the possibilities of Power Supply under five heads—(1) water power already developed, (2) plants under construction, (3) areas investigated but not developed, (4) known sites of which detailed examination is desirable, and (5) areas and sites not investigated. Electricity—A Provincial Subject Unfortunately under the changes made in the Government of India in consequence of the Act of 1919, Electricity became a Provincial subject. That Act unfortunately did not contain a provision as the present Act does of permitting the Central Government to spend its revenues on matters which it felt fit and proper although they were outside its field of administration. The result was that it became impossible for the Government of India to finance the Hydrographic Survey. A good, great and necessary piece of work for providing India with supply of electrical power came to an end. There is no officer at the Centre in charge of the development of electricity in India with the result that we at the Centre had till recently