Vol. 10 · pages 426–430

GRIEVANCES OF THE SCHEDULED CASTES INTRODUCTION This Memorandum sets out the grievances of the Scheduled Castes in British India and suggests the measures that are necessary for redressing them. In listing the grievances I have taken note of such grievances only as the Central Government alone can remedy. The grievances listed in this memorandum are divided into three categories (1) Political, (2) Educational and (3) Other Grievances, and are discussed separately. Part I deals with Political grievances, Part II with Educational grievances, and Part III with Other grievances. To this I have added Part IV in which I have ventured to speak of the duty which every Government must assume towards those who are living in a life of perpetual distress, in the hope that the Government of India will recognize it and do what they are bound to do to the Scheduled Castes. I have thought it advisable to give below a table divided into Parts. This table, it will be seen serves two purposes. It gives at the start the contents of this memorandum, and secondly it helps to convey at the outset a general idea of what these grievances are. Part I. Political Grievances 1. Inadequate Representation in the Central Legislature. 2. Inadequate Representation in the Central Executive. 3. Absence of Representation in the Public Services. 4. Absence of Representation on the Federal Public Services Commission. Part II. Educational Grievances 5. Want of Aid for University and for Advanced Education. 6. Want of Facilities for Technical Training. Part III. Other Grievances 7. Untouchables and Government Publicity. 8. Untouchables and Government Contracts. Part IV. Duty of Government towards Distressed people.

PART I POLITICAL GRIEVANCES I. Inadequate Representation in the Central Legislature 1. As at present constituted the Central Assembly consists of 141 members. Of these 102 are elected and 39 nominated. Of the nominated members 19 are non-Officials and 20 are Officials. Of this total of 141 there are two who belong to the Scheduled Castes. Consider as against this the population of the Scheduled Castes. The census in India has become a political affair; and the Hindus, Muslims and the Sikhs have been attempting to cook up the census so as to show a rise in their numbers. This is done mostly at the cost of the untouchables. It is therefore difficult to get a correct figure of their population. Whatever estimate the census gives, it is bound to be an underestimate. However, taking the figure of 40 millions which is the figure given in the census of 1940 there can be no doubt that the representation of the Scheduled Castes in the central Legislature is ridiculously low. 2. To make the position clear, I give below two tables which have a bearing on this question : TABLE No. 1 Population in British India Communities Total of each community in 1941 Order of importance in terms of population Percentage to total population 1 2 3 4 Total ... 295,808,722 …… …… Hindus ... 150,890,146 1 50.0 Muslims ... 79,398,503 2 23.6 Scheduled Castes ... 39,920,807 3 13.5 Tribal ... 16,713,256 4 5.7 Sikhs ... 4,165,097 5 1.3 Indian Christians ... 3,245,706 6 1.0 Europeans ... 122,788 7 …… Anglo-Indians … 113,936 8 …… Parsis … 101,968 9 …… Note.—In this table only the population of those communities whose position is relevant to the purpose of this Memorandum is given.

407 POLITICAL GRIEVANCES TABLE No. 2 Communal Composition of the Central Assembly Community Elected Members Nominated Non-Official Members Nominated Official Members Total including Official Members Total excluding Official Members No. Per cent No. Per cent No. Per cent Total Per cent Total Per cent 1 2 3 4 5 6 Hindus 56 54.9 4 21 8 …… 68 48.5 60 49.5 Muslims 34 33.5 7 37 3 …… 44 31 41 33.8 Sikhs 2 …… 2 10.5 …… …… 4 2.8 4 3.3 Parsis 1 …… 2 10.5 1 …… 4 2.8 3 2.4 Europeans 8 7.8 1 …… 7 …… 16 11.3 9 7.4 Indian Christians 1 1 1 Anglo-Indians 1 1 1 Scheduled Castes 1 1 2 1.4 1 Vacant 1 1 1 Total ... 102 19 20 141 121

408 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES 3. This table thorws a flood of light on the extent of representation which the different communities in the Central Legislature have at present. Figures in column 5 give the total representation each community has, with the percentage ratio for some of them. I do not, however, wish to lay stress on them. They include figure for Nominated Officials. They are intended primarily to represent Government and not the communities to whom they belong. Secondly, the communal composition of the Nominated Official Block is variable and not fixed. But I do wish to invite attention to figures in other columns. I will begin with column 6. It gives the total extent of the representation which different communities have secured through election as well as nomination. More striking are the figures given in column 3. It shows that the Hindus have been allowed 54.9% by election. In addition they are given 21% out of the quota reserved for nomination. The Muslims have got 33.5% by election. This is great deal in excess of what they are entitled to on the basis of their population. In addition they are allowed the benefit of 37% out of the quota reserved for nomination. The same is the case with the Sikhs and the Parsis. Both of them have representation through election much beyond what their numbers would justify. Yet each is allowed to have the benefit of 10.5% out of the quota for nomination. As against this, there is the naked fact that the Scheduled Castes who number 40 millions and who form the third largest community in India have no scat by election, and only one by nomination. 4. Given these facts two comments become quite in order. In the first place, the Legislature is quite an unbalanced body. It suffers from both the evils from over-representation of some communities and under-representation of other communities. The evil exists in its most aggravated form. For the overrepresentation is of communities which are strong and powerful, and the under-representation is of communities which are weak and poor. The second comment relates to the wrong use of the power of nomination. The power of nomination was reserved under the Constitution to rectify the inequalities of representation. To put it in different language, it was intended to give these communities, which did not secure enough representation, by election, sufficient representation through nomination.

409 POLITICAL GRIEVANCES There is no principle which seems to govern either the election or the nomination in so far as they relate to the composition of the central Legislature. If at all there is any principle, it is to give Peter more than Paul and then to rob Paul who has almost nothing to enrich Peter who has almost everything. 5. There is no justification for so grave a wrong done to the Scheduled Castes in the matter of representation. In a legislature in which the Muslims and the Hindus are waging a war against each other for rights and privileges and in which both are careful not to lose anything to a third party like the Scheduled Castes what support can a single representative of the Scheduled Caste in a House of 141 get in his right for the rights of the Scheduled Castes ? It was the view of the Southborough Committee, on the recommendations of which the present structure of the Central Legislature is reared, that the nominated officials may be expected to bear in mind the interests of the Scheduled Castes. It is a matter of some considerable interest that the then Government of India refused to accept this view. In their Despatch on the Report of the Southborough Committee, the Government of India said :— “But that arrangement is not, in our opinion, what the (Montague-Chelmsford) Report on Reforms aims at. The authors staled that the Depressed Classes should also learn the lesson of self-protection. It is surely fanciful to hope that this result can be expected from including a single member of the community in an assembly where there are 60 to 90 Caste Hindus. To make good the principles of paras 151, 152 and 155 of the Report we must treat the outcastes more generously……” Unfortunately no generosity was shown by the Government of India to the Scheduled Castes in making its proposal for the composition of the Central Legislative Assembly. They gave them one scat by nomination, and it has continued to be one since 1921. 6. The result of this meagre representation has been quite deplorable. A single representative of the scheduled castes in an Assembly of 141 cannot but feel the utter helplessness of his position. He has to contend against a vast volume of antiScheduled Caste prejudices arising from the Hindu side of the House. He cannot depend upon the support either of the Muslim block who are lighting their battle to advance their interests. Nor can he depend upon the Official Block which has been more careful to preserve its good relations with