Vol. 10 · pages 821–825

800 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES absolutely necessary for them to continue this cruel custom of employing women in mines ? The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : The Government have been reviewing the position. Sir Cowasjee Jehangir : May I know from the Honourable Member whether there is any restriction upon pregnant women going underground ? The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : It is very difficult to put any such restriction, because, as my Honourable friend is aware, it is extremely difficult to discover the state of pregnancy in many women. Sir Cowasjee Jehangir : Surely the Honourable Member realises that it is not such a difficult matter. It is done in other trades. Why can’t it be done here as well ? Why can’t a restriction be placed at least in theory, if not in practice, that no pregnant woman shall go underground ? The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar: I might assure my Honourable friend that the matter is under active consideration. Shrimati K. Radha Bai Subbarayan : Have the Government made any arrangement for the care of infants and children of these women workers ? The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : There has been established a Coal-miners’ Welfare Fund and the care of children will be one of the duties of this Fund. Shrimati K. Radha Bai Subbarayan : I want to know whether the Government have made any definite arrangement for the care of the infants and children of these women ? The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar: That is a statutory organisation and one of its obligatory duties would be to look after the infants and children of the women workers. Prof. N. G. Ranga : May I know whether Government have taken effective steps to reduce the number of women working in the mines and increase the number of men to be employed there ? The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar: That is also under consideration. Prof. N. G. Ranga : Arc any steps being taken ? The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar: Steps are being contemplated.

801 L. A. DEBATES (CENTRAL) QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Dr. G. V. Deshmukh : Besides the statutory provision, do Government know of any arrangement that should be made to safeguard the welfare of these pregnant women and children ? The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : I am sure the Honourable Member will allow me to say that intelligence is not the monopoly of himself ? Dr. G. V. Deshmukh : Neither is it the monopoly of the Government. 229 * Shortage of Labour in Coal Mines 240. Mr. Manu Subedar : (a) Will the Honourable the Labour Member be pleased to state if it is a fact that shortage of labour in coal mines was due to higher wages offered by Army contractors for the construction of aerodromes, etc. ? (b) What were the wages in coal mines before the war, and what have been the wages during each of the five years of the war ? (c) Is it true that the falling off in the output of coal mines was due to the reluctance of coal mine-owners to pay proper wages, having regard to the rise in the cost of living ? (d) What steps have Government taken to deal with the situation created by (i) shortage of labour, and (ii) shortage of coal ? The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : (a) Employment of labour at higher rates by Army contractors was a contributory cause of the shortage of labour in collieries; (b) A statement@ is laid on the Table of the House. (c) It is a fact that wages of colliery labour were not for long sufficiently adjusted to meet the increased cost of living. This was one factor in the falling off of the supply of labour. (d) I invite the attention of the Honourable Member to the replies given in the Legislative Assembly by the Honourable Member for Supply to parts (a), (b), (d), (e) and (f) of Mr. Neogy’s starred question No. 17. This describes the various steps taken by Government to deal * Legislative Assembly Debates (Central), Vol. IV of 1944, 10th November 1944, p. 561. @ Statement not included here. —Ed.

802 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES with the situation created by the shortage of labour and the shortage of coal. The representatives of the industry also agreed at Dhanbad in December 1943 to increase the cash wages of colliery labour and grant concessions in the supply of foodstuffs. Mr. Manu Subedar : What is the increase in wages that the employers are compelled to pay as compared with the prewar rates. The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : I am sorry I cannot give the figure but I have got a statement here which is pretty full and I am sure the Honourable Member will find what he wants there. Mr. Manu Subedar : What steps have the Government taken to see that the women forced into the mines in this distressful manner get at least a little more pittance than women working in other trades above ground? The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : I can assure my Honourable friend that the wages in coal mines have increased by more than 50 per cent. Mr. Manu Subedar : What steps have the Government taken to coerce the coal mine owners ? The Government pay for coal Rs. 9-8-0 now instead of Rs. 3-8-0 before the war. If you give so much more for coal, have you made any condition that this part of the extra will go to the women workers whom you have disgracefully forced into the mines ? The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : I think we have taken all the steps necessary. Mr. N. M. Joshi : Is it not a fact that the Government of India are taking measures to prevent miners being employed by military contractors in order that the miners may be forced to go into mines for work at the risk of being starved ? The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : That does not arise out of this question. Prof. N. G. Ranga : Do these 16,000 women possess any special qualification or skill so that they are thus forced to work in the mines, which qualifications could not be acquired by males in this country ? The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : They are neither asked nor forced. They are only permitted to offer themselves for their traditional occupation.

803 L. A. DEBATES (CENTRAL) QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Mr. N. M. Joshi : May I know whether it is not a fact that the coal production today is less than the prewar period and whether this shortage of coal production is not due to the smallness of the wages paid to the miners ? The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : My Honourable friend is entitled to draw his own inference. 230 * Provincial Governments’ Contribution to Radical Democratic Party and Indian Labour Federation 252. Sir Abdul Halim Ghuznavi : Will the Honourable the Labour Member please state : (a) whether office bearers or any individual of the Radical Democratic Party or of the Indian Federation of Labour receive monetary help from the different Provincial Governments besides Rs. 13,000 per month from the Central Government; (b) whether he is aware that these two organisations receive a sum of Rs. 75,000 per month from the Government of the United Provinces; (c) The object of the Government in giving monetary help to these two organisations only; and (d) which the other labour organisations are which receive monetary help from the Government ? The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : (a) Government has no information. The grant of Rs. 13,000 is made not to the Radical Democratic Party but to the Indian Federation of Labour and not to any individual member or office-bearer of the Federation. The letter in which assistance from Government was offered was addressed both to the All-India Trade Union Congress and the Indian Federation of Labour. In their reply the All-India Trade Union Congress did not ask for any assistance. * Legislative Assembly Debates (Central), Vol. IV of 1944, 10th November 1944, p. 568.

804 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES (b) I am not aware of any grant made to the Federation by the Government of the United Provinces. (c) This Department is concerned only with the grant to the Indian Federation of Labour. The object of this grant is to enable the Federation to do propaganda to keep up the morale of industrial labour. (d) There are no other labour organisations receiving monetary help from the Central Government. 231 * Exploratory and Prospecting Licences to British and American Firms re Potential Oil Resources 48. Mr. K. C. Neogy : (a) Will the Honourable the Labour Member be pleased to lay on the table a statement bringing up-to-date the information supplied in the statement that was laid on the table on the 2nd August, 1943, relating to mineral concessions (including exploratory and prospecting licences) granted to British and American firms in respect of potential oil resources in British India ? (b) Is it a fact that licences for carrying on geo-physical explorations have been granted by different Provincial Governments. If so, did the Provincial Governments concerned consult the Government of India before granting such licences ? (c) To which firms have these licences been granted; in respect of which areas, and what are their terms ? The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : The information is being collected and a statement will be laid on the table of the House in due course. 232 @ The Indian Trade Unions (Amendment) Bill The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar (Labour Member): I do not propose to make the motion that stands in my name. * Legislative Assembly Debates (Central), Vol. IV of 1944, 10th November 1944, p. 574. @ Ibid., 14th November 1944, p. 730.