Vol. 10 · pages 846–850

825 L. A. DEBATES (CENTRAL) QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS (c) The answer to the first part is in the negative. As regards the second part, the policy of Government is not to make any comprehensive revisions in scales of pay during the present unstable economic conditions but to meet increases in the cost of living either by dearness allowance or by relief in kind or by both. 248 * Requests for Adjudication of Railway Trade Disputes 101. Mr. Badri Dutt Pande : Will the Honourable the Labour Member please state: (a) the number of requests for adjudication of trade disputes between the Railway Administrations and its employees recorded during the preceding five years; and (b) how those requests were disposed of ? The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : (a) and (b). I place on the table a statement showing the number of requests made for settlement of trade disputes between Railway Administrations and their employees during the past five years under the Trade Disputes Act or Rule 81A of the Defence of India Rules, and action taken on them. 249 @ Procedure re Appointment of Adjudicator of Trade Disputes 102. Mr. Badri Dutt Pande : Will the Honourable the Labour Member please state : (a) the rules governing the proceedings before an adjudicator is appointed under Rule 81 of the Defence of India Act Rules; (b) the qualifications prescribed for the appointment of an adjudicator for the trade disputes between the employer and its employees; and * Legislative Assembly Debates (Central), Vol. V of 1944, 20th November 1944, p. 1038. @ Ibid., p. 1040.

826 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES Requests for Boards of Conciliation or Courts of Enquiry under the Trade Disputes Act or adjudication under Defence of India Rule 81A in connection with trade dispute between the Railway Administrations and their employees Serial No. Year From whom the request was received Nature of of request Action taken 1 2 3 4 5 1 1939 Certain travelling Ticket Inspectors on the E. I. Rly. Appointment of a Court of Enquiry under section 3 of the Trade Disputes Act to consider the propriety of withholding a memorial addressed to His Excellency the Viceroy. Rejected (The Trade Dispute Act did not apply as the matter was not a ‘trade dispute’ for the purpose of the Act). 2 1940 The employees of the G.I.P. Railway. Appointment of a Court of Enquiry under section 3 of the Trade Disputes Act to investigate the question of grant of war dearness allowance. Accepted. 3 1943 All India Railwaymen’s Federation, Mylapore, Madras. Appointment of an adjudicator under Defence of India Rule 81A on the question of dearness allowance for Railway. Rejected. 4 1943 The G.I.P. Railwaymen’s Union, Bombay. Do. Do. Do. 5 1944 The N.W.R. Employee Union, Karachi. Do. Do. Do. 6 1944 G.I.P. Railwaymen’s Union. Do. Do. Do. 7 1944 B.B. & C.I. Railwaymen’s Union, Bombay. Do. Do. Under consideration of Government. See question No. 101 at Sr. No. 249.

827 L. A. DEBATES (CENTRAL) QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS (c) on whose report or request an adjudicator under Rule 81 of the Defence of India Act Rules is to be appointed ? The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : (a) The Honourable Member is presumably referring to rule 81A of the Defence of India Rules. There are no rules governing the proceedings before an adjudicator. (b) No qualifications have been prescribed and it is not possible to do so because action under Rule 81A is of an urgent nature and it is not always possible readily to obtain persons of any particular qualifications in different parts of the country. The general rule is to appoint the most suitable person available in all circumstances of the case. Persons so far appointed include High Court Judges, District and Sessions Judges, Chief Presidency Magistrates, Labour Commissioners and their Assistants, Workmen Compensation Commissioners and War Injuries Claims Officers. (c) An adjudicator may be appointed at the request of either or both the parties, or on the initiative of Government. 250 * Results of Propaganda by Indian Labour Federation 103. Mr. Badri Dutt Pande : Will the Honourable the Labour Member please state the results achieved from the propaganda by the Federation of Labour from the subsidy of Rs. 13,000 a month ? The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : I would refer the Honourable Member to the reply given by me on the 7th November 1944 to part (c) of Prof. Ranga’s starred question No. 152. 251 @ Appointment of Committee of Enquiry re Mica Industry of India Mr. Satya Narayan Sinha : (a) Will the Honourable the Labour Member be pleased to state if it is a fact that a Committee of Enquiry by the Central Government regarding Mica Industry of Bihar has been appointed or is going to be appointed. * Legislative Assembly Debates (Central), Vol. V of 1944, 20th November 1944, p. 1040. @ Ibid., p. 1041.

828 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES (b) Is the Honourable Member aware that a constitution of the said enquiry is beyond the jurisdiction of the Federal Legislative list ? (c) If the reply be in the affirmative will the Honourable Member be pleased to state the reason for such encroachment upon the Provincial Legislative List as set out in the Seventh Schedule to the Government of India Act, 1935. The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : (a) Yes, the Committee has been appointed. (b) and (c) In appointing the Committee the Central Government proceeded on the view that no such encroachment was involved, but the Honourable Member is of course free to form his own opinion. Mr. Satya Narayan Sinha : Will the Honourable Member please state under what section of the Government of India Act has the action been taken ? Mr. President (The Honourable Sir Abdur Rahim): Presumably Government have acted upon their own responsibility. 252 * Summary of Proceedings of the Fifth Labour Conference and the Fourth Meeting of the Standing Labour Committee The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar (Labour Member): Sir, I lay on the table a copy each of the Summary of Proceedings of the Fifth Labour Conference held at New Delhi on the 6th and 7th September 1943 and the Fourth Meeting of the Standing Labour Committee held at Lucknow on the 25th and 26th January 1944. 253 @ Government Contribution to Indian Labour Federation 35. Mr. Lalchand Navalrai : (a) Will the Honourable the Labour Member be pleased to state if his attention has been drawn to a contribution by the United Press, published in the Sind Observer of the * Legislative Assembly Debates (Central), Vol. V of 1944, 20th November 1944, p. 1041. @ Ibid., Vol. I of 1945, 9th February 1945, pp. 87-88.

829 L. A. DEBATES (CENTRAL) QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 17th December, 1944, under the caption “Roy-Mehta Mud Slinging over Rs. 13,000” in which Mr. Jamnadas Mehta, M.L.A., now an officer in the Government of India, has said that he has with him an official correspondence on the aforesaid subject showing that the name of the Labour Federation has been used behind the back, over the head and without the knowledge of either its President or its Executive Council and further Rs. 13,000 per month were obtained by Mr. Roy for himself to be used as he liked ? (b) In view of the above information, will the Honourable Member be pleased to give information with regard to this public money as to whom it was given and for what purpose, and how it was used, and did Mr. Roy himself use the money as he liked, or did he make use of it for his own purposes or divide it with Mr. Jamnadas Mehta ? The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : (a) Yes, by the Honourable Member himself. (b) I would invite attention to my reply given to the Honourable Member’s question No. 31 on the 2nd November, 1944. Mr. Lalchand Navalrai : The Honourable Member has not given specific replies to my questions. I want to know, with regard to part (b), whether what Mr. Jamnadas Mehta has said in that article is correct, or what the Honourable Member said last time on this question was correct ? Is this money for Mr. Jamnadas, is it for Mr. Roy, or is it for both ? The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : I have nothing to add to the reply that I have given. Mr. Lalchand Navalrai : But I want the Honourable Member to reply to my questions. Mr. President (The Honourable Sir Abdur Rahim): The Honourable Member has given the reply. Mr. Lalchand Navalrai : I know that the Honourable Member is feeling shy over this question because if he makes a statement it would go against his own answers. I submit that the Honourable Member should reply to my questions otherwise there will be an adjournment motion on this subject. Dr. Sir Zia Uddin Ahmad : I think the House has got a right to know whether it is a personal gratuity or it is for the benefit of the Federation.