Vol. 10 · pages 451–455

430 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES 41. The other proposal which I wish to make is to give:— (4) Representation to the Scheduled Castes on the Central Advisory Board of Education. 42. The constitution of the Board consists of— (1) The Honourable Member in charge of the Department of Education, Health and Lands (Chairman); (2) The Educational Commissioner with the Government of India; (3) Ten nominees of the Government of India, of whom one at least shall be a woman; (4) One member of the Council of State elected by the Council of State; (5) Two members of the Legislative Assembly elected by the Legislative Assembly. (6) Three members of the Inter-University Board, India, nominated by the Inter-University Board of India. (7) A representative of each local Government, who shall be either the Minister in charge of Education (or his deputy) or the Director of Public Instruction (or his deputy) or such other person as the Provincial Government may nominate in this behalf. 43. The functions of the Board are :— (a) To advise on any educational question which may be referred to it by the Government of India or by local Government. (b) To call for information and advice regarding educational developments of special interest and value to India; to examine this information and to circulate it with recommendations to the Government of India and to local Governments. 44. From the functions of the Board it is quite clear that the board can study the educational problem of the Scheduled Castes as that of special interest and frame recommendations and advice Central and Provincial Governments in that connection. Such a thing can be of immense importance in focussing the attention of the Governments and the Universities on the spread of higher education among the Scheduled Castes.

431 EDUCATIONAL GRIEVANCES 45. It is, however, necessary in the first place to get the Board interested in the educational problem of special classes like the Scheduled Castes. This can be done only by giving representation to members of the Scheduled Castes on the Board. It is therefore suggested that two representatives of the Scheduled Castes should be nominated on the board. VI. Want of Facilities for Technical Training Technical Education 46. From the point of raising the economic condition, technical education for the Scheduled Castes is more important than literary education. But technical education is also very costly and it is not possible for children of the Scheduled Castes to take technical education, and without technical education their economic condition will not be improved. Owing to the social system of the Hindus, the Scheduled Castes occupy economically a very low place in the Indian economy. In times of prosperity he is last to be employed, and in times of depression he is first to be discharged. This, of course, is a result of the social prejudices of the Hindus which operate against him. But there is also the other difficulty which stands in his way and that is he is generally an unskilled labourer with no technical knowledge. 47. It seems to me that the Government of India can do a great deal to improve his lot by enabling him to acquire technical skill which he does not now possess and this can be easily done by introducing a system of apprenticeship for the Scheduled Caste boys in undertakings run or controlled by the Government of India, in which the possibilities of giving such technical training do exist. I am referring only to two :— (1) Apprenticeships in Government Printing Presses : There are a number of Printing Presses which are maintained by the Government of India. There are so many skilled occupations which are open to persons trained in a printing press—compositors, printers, binders, etc. There is no reason why the Government of India should not have a scheme whereby suitable boys from the Scheduled Castes should be taken as apprentices to learn the various occupations which are related to the printing trade.

432 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES (2) Aprenticeships in Railway Workshops : The Railways in India, most of which are owned by the Government of India, also maintain workshops where fitters, carpenters and other technicians are employed, and I do not know whether the Railway Department have schemes of taking apprentices to be trained as technicians to be subsequently employed on the Railways. But even if such a scheme was not in existence it is necessary to have one for the benefit of the Scheduled Castes. 48. I therefore suggest the scheme of apprenticeship whereby annually a good number of boys from the Scheduled Castes should be given training in the printing press and the Railway Workshops. The cost of it cannot be very great. zz

PART III OTHER GRIEVANCES VII. Neglect in the Matter of Publicity 47. It is quite well known that the Government of India engages itself very largely in giving publicity to the saying and doings of different individuals and parties who represent the main forces operating in India. As an illustration of this I would refer to the Volume called “India and the Aggressor” (The Trend of Indian Opinion Between 1935-40) issued by the Bureau of Public Information of the Government of India. The name of the Volume is very misleading. It has nothing to do with the Aggressor. It is a collection of sayings and doings of the Political Parties and Politicians in the country and presents a full resume of the views of the majority and minority in India. 48. Now the most annoying part of this volume is the complete neglect of the sayings and doings of the Scheduled Castes. Out of the 940 pages, 158 pages are given to the Congress, 85 pages are allotted to the Muslims. The Hindu Mahasabha and the Hindu League are given about 10 pages. The Liberal Federation has received 16 pages. The Sikhs are spread over 6 pages, Indian Christians over 2 pages and the Scheduled Castes are disposed of in about 3 pages and what is surprising is that in these 3 pages devoted to the Scheduled Castes the material which is included is of a trifling character. It omits altogether to take notice of some of the most important events that have taken place during this period and important pronouncements made by leading individuals from the Scheduled Castes. I may mention only one such event viz., the movement for conversion. Beyond question it was a movement which shook the Hindu Society to its very foundations and attracted the notice of the whole world. To emphasize the trumpery sort of publicity given to the Scheduled Castes in this

434 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES volume it is enough to say that the St. Mary’s College, Kurseong, once undertook to give publicity to the cause of the Scheduled Castes and has as a result published material covering the same period and which fills a Volume of 507 pages. So vast have been the forces and movements affecting and emanating from the Scheduled Castes during this period of 1935—40. As to myself, I must have made many pronouncements touching the Scheduled Castes. Not one of them however finds a place in this Volume. 49. It is true that this Volume is intended for official use only. But in my opinion this fact does not alter the great value which the compilation must necessarily have. It goes without saying that it is the mind of the Official which is, to a large degree, responsible for determining the direction which the affairs of the State will take. It also determines the value which he ought to give to issues in which communal interests are involved. It also goes without saying that the attitude and the mind of the Official is bound to be determined by the kind of material which is presented to him and on which he feeds in a Volume like this. Further, the degree of publicity given to a cause by Government in a Government publication may be treated by him as the value which government attaches to it and as a direction for him for evaluating the needs and claims of different communities. Looked at from this point of view this Volume is sure to give to the Officers working in the Central Secretariat as well as in the Provincial Governments and even to the Secretary of State the impression that the Government of India regards the Scheduled Castes as a negligible force not worth bothering about. That this is the effect which this volume has produced is evident from the speech delivered in Parliament by the Secretary of State where the references to the Muslims are emphatic and positive while the references to the Scheduled Castes are just of a parenthetical character. It is a grievous wrong done to the Scheduled Castes whose cause has received a setback at a most critical period in their struggle by reason of this unbalanced presentation of their case on the part of Government. I would press that the Bureau of Public Information be asked to prepare a supplement to the Volume which it has issued giving full space to movements carried on by the Scheduled Castes and the pronouncements their leaders have made.