Vol. 10 · pages 441–445

420 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES they were given 31 seats by nomination. The Muslims got only 35 appointments to the I.C.S. by competition between 1920-1942. But they were given 74 by nomination. The Sikhs have got only 5 by competition. But they got 6 by nomination. The Scheduled Castes who got none by competition get only one by nomination. All this shows how the position of the Scheduled Castes has remained deplorable and how Government which is striving to be considerate to other communities by not even trying to be correct towards the Scheduled Castes, is responsible for this result. 23. The condition of the Scheduled Castes is not only deplorable, but it is also intolerable. This is the result of the present policy of the Government of India under which the quantum of recruitment of the Scheduled Castes in the Public Services instead of fixed by rule as is done in the case of the other minorities is left to the discretion of the appointing authorities. The appointing authorities are mostly caste Hindus and it is not possible to expect them to give the benefit of this discretion to the Scheduled Castes. I have no doubt that the interests of the Scheduled Castes will continue to be neglected and sacrificed to serve the interests of other communities so long as the present system continues. The Government of India should without further delay equalize the position of the Scheduled Castes and— (1) declare that they are a minority for the purpose of services like the other communities. (2) fix 13½% as the proportion of annual vacancies in the I.C.S. and both in the Central Services that are recruited on an all India basis and that are recruited locally as the share to which they are entitled and which in equity and justice should be reserved for them. Unless this is done the Scheduled Castes will never get their due share in Public Services. 24. The difficulty lies in the Scheduled Castes not being declared a minority. It is essential that this obstacle in their way be removed. The reason is that under the resolution of 4th July 1934 it is only when a community is declared to be a minority that it becomes entitled to the benefit of reservation in the Public Services. A community as such does not get any such benefit. It is difficult to see what objection there can be to a declaration that the Scheduled Castes are a minority. The term minority is a political term and whatever may be its de jure

421 POLITICAL GRIEVANCES definition its de facto definition can never be in doubt. The matter is settled by the terms of Communal Award so that any community which is covered by the Communal Award of His Majesty’s Government must be held to be a minority. Indeed that is the basis on which the Government of India could declare that the Muslims, Sikhs, Indian Christians, and Anglo-Indians are minorities. If these communities are minorities and they are minorities because they are covered by the Communal Award— then it is difficult to see how the claim of the Scheduled Castes to be declared a Minority be denied. For they too are covered by the same Award. Secondly, if Government is bound to declare them a minority then it follows as a natural consequence that Government is bound to define their share in the services and make it available by the same means and methods by which the share of other communities has been secured to them. Nor can anybody oppose the quantum of share to which they are entitled as the legitimate share of the Scheduled Castes. It has been shown that their population in British India is 13.6% and nothing more than a share of 13.6% in the services is claimed for them. This cannot injure the Hindus, for their population is 50% and they are geting 63% which is 13% more than is their due. 25. The opposition to this claim of the Scheduled Castes comes from very strange and unexpected quarters. It should come from the Hindus. But it cannot. The mutual rights of the Scheduled Castes and the Hindus are defined by the Poona Pact which was made in 1932. It is an agreement by which the Hindus have accepted that the Scheduled Castes are a minority and that they are entitled to adequate share in the Public services of the Country. It is true that the term ‘adequate’ was not given a quantitative expression. That is because it was done in a hurry to save Mr. Gandhi from the hands of death. But there can be no doubt that ‘adequate’ was never intended to be anything less than the population ratio. The Hindus therefore cannot oppose the claim of the Scheduled Castes and, as a matter of fact, they do not. The party opposing the claim of the Scheduled Castes is the Government of India and nobody else. In the debate on the question that took place in the Central Legislative Assembly on March 1942 on a cut motion by Rao Bahadur N. Sivaraj, M.L.A. the claim of the Scheduled Castes for being declared a minority and for defining

422 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES their share in services which was the subject matter of the Motion was supported by the Muslims, by the Europeans, Anglo-Indians and Sikhs. Except for one solitary individual, the Hindus did not oppose it. It was, however, opposed by the spokesmen of the Government of India. This is the most tragic part of the story. The Government of India have said that they were trustees for the welfare of the Scheduled Castes. As trustees, they should be more ready to safeguard the rights of the Scheduled Castes than to safeguard the rights of the other minorities. There would have been some excuse for the Government of India hesitating to allot to the Scheduled Castes their rights in the matter of recruitment to the Public Services if there was any obstacle placed in their way by the Hindus. But there is no such excuse. Would it be wrong if it was said that the enemies of the Scheduled Castes are not the Hindus and that their real enemy is the Government of India ? 26. What is the reason which the Government of India gives for opposing the claim of the Scheduled Castes ? So far as the speech of the Hon’ble the Home Member made on the motion moved by the Hon’ble Rao Bahadur N. Sivaraj M.L.A., is an indication, the reason is that there are not enough educated men among the Scheduled Castes. It must be said that this is by no means a convincing reason. In the first place, this is the old reason given in 1934 in paragraph 3 of the Resolution. It takes no account of the progress that has been made during the last 8 years. In the second place, the statement was not true even for 1934. For 1942 it will be gross misstatement. As a matter of fact a census of college students of the Scheduled Castes was taken privately in about 1939-40, and the total number of graduates among the Scheduled Castes were found to number about 400 to 500. In the third place, this fact even if it were true cannot be a bar against declaring the Scheduled Castes a minority and against fixing their proportion. For if the Scheduled Castes candidates with minimum qualification fall short in any one year of the annual proportion of vacancies reserved for them no body will be hurt because the unused vacancies will go to the Hindus. The difficulty anticipated by the Home Member cannot be said to arise only in the case of the Scheduled Castes. The condition of other minorities is not free from giving rise to the same difficulty. In fact when the government issued the resolution in 1934 they felt that such a difficulty might arise in their case also. But this did not stop Government from declaring them to be minorities and fixing their

423 POLITICAL GRIEVANCES proportion. Government did declare them to be minorities and also fixed their proportion, and for the difficulty that duly qualified candidates may in any given year be less than the vacancies reserved, Government provided by paragraph 7(1)(iii) of the resolution that the residue of the vacancies will be available for the Muslims. 27. Surely the difficulties which can be overcome successfully in the case of the other minorities cannot be followed to stand in the way of the Scheduled Castes. If Government docs that, it will be guilty of unjustly-defeating the just claims of the Scheduled Castes. It will be accused of using grounds which are not reasons but which are only excuses for sustaining its opposition to the claims of the Scheduled Castes. 28. Besides the two remedies suggested, namely (1) declaring them a minority and (2) fixing their proportion in the annual vacancies, it will be necessary to sanction other remedies to the Scheduled Castes for securing to them their fair share in the services. They are : (1) Raising the Age bar, (2) Reduction in examination fees, and (3) Appointment of a Scheduled Caste officer to see that the provisions made in the interests of the Scheduled Castes in this behalf are carried by all Departments concerned. (1) Raising the Age Bar 29. Under the present rules for the I. C. S. and the Central Services the maximum age limit is 24. Generally this maximum age limit hits the Scheduled Castes very hard. For owing to their extreme poverty it is not possible for the Scheduled Caste boy to reach that level of education which will enable him to compete with students from higher and well-to-do classes within the age limit. The children of the former have to suffer many breaks in their educational career and have no facilities at home cither for tuition or even for study. The latter have all the facilities for rapid and continuous progress. Consequently the children of the Scheduled Castes by the time they reach the final stage of their education and are in a position to compete they become ineligible on account of age for recruitment in the Public Service. It is therefore, necessary to raise the age limit by at least 3 years. There is nothing very unreasonable in this demand and there will be nothing extraordinary if it was conceded by Government of India. In almost all Provincial Governments where a proportion in the services has been

424 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES reserved this concession has been made and the age limit for the Scheduled Castes has been fixed at a pitch higher than what is fixed for others. In some Provinces the difference is of 2 and in some provinces it is of 3 years. In granting this concession the Government of India will be following a well established principle. (2) Reduction in Examination Fees 30. The I.C.S. Examination fee is Rs. 100/-, the Examination fee for the Indian Audit and Accounts Service is Rs. 82/8/-, and for other Ministerial services Examination (Assistant’s Grade) the fee is Rs. 30/-. These fees are too heavy for the Scheduled Castes. They are really and truly a great handicap. Many a Scheduled Caste student after having spent time and energy in qualifying for an examination finds it difficult to appear at it because the fees for the examination are beyond the means of their parents. This handicap needs to be removed. It is urged that the Scheduled Caste candidates should not be charged more than one-fourth of the fees chargeable for these examinations. (3) Scheduled Caste Officer 31. These two concessions if allowed will go a long way to assist the community of Scheduled Castes to compete on more equal terms with its competitors. But the assistance rendered by these steps will not be adequate. Something further must be done. That is, to appoint a Scheduled Caste Officer in the Government of India cither in the Home Department or Labour Department whose duty it will be to see that effect is given to the claims of the Scheduled Castes in the matter of their entry in the Public Services. It is understood that such officers were at one time appointed by the Government of India in order to see that the rules framed by Government in the matter of communal representation in services were strictly followed. But even if that be not the case the necessity and urgency of appointing a Scheduled Castes Officer for protecting the service claims of the Scheduled Castes is beyond question. There is a great danger of such rules being set at naught as a result of the prejudices prevailing against the Scheduled Castes unless there was an officer charged with the duty of dealing with such cases. The only remedy is to have an independent officer charged with the duty to see that the rules are carried out.