Vol. 13 · pages 1006–1010

973DRAFT CONSTITUTION ‘(3) In the discharge of his functions under sub-paragraph (2) of this paragraph as the agent of the President, the Governor shall act in his discretion.’ ” ***** *The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : I do not accept it, Sir. Mr. President : Then I put Dr. Ambedkar’s amendment first. The question is: “That after sub-paragraph (2) of paragraph 17, the following sub-paragraph be added :— “(3) In the discharge of his functions under sub-paragraph (2) of this paragraph as the agent of the President, the Governor shall act in his discretion.” (The amendment was adopted.) (Amendment of Brajeshwar Prasad was rejected). [Paragraph 17, as amended, was added to the Sixth Schedule.] (Paragraph 18) The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : Sir, I move : “That in paragraph 18, in line 22, the words ‘in his discretion’ be deleted.” “That clause (c) of paragraph 18 be deleted.” Mr. President: Amendment Nos. 148 and 149 are ruled out. Then we have amendments Nos. 223, 224, 225 and 226 which are more or less on the same lines. Would you like to move No. 226, Mr. Brajeshwar Prasad? The other three I have ruled out. Shri Brajeshwar Prasad : I do not like to move any of my amendments, Sir. Mr. President: Then, I put Dr. Ambedkar’s amendments No. 146 and 147. (The amendments were adopted.) [Paragraph 18, as amended, was added to the Sixth Schedule.] (Paragraph 19) †The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : Sir, I move: “That with reference to amendments No. 150 and 151 of List I (Seventh Week) for paragraph 19 and the Table appended to it the following paragraph and Table be substituted :— “19. Tribal areas.—(1) The areas specified in Parts I and II of the Table below shall be the tribal areas within the State of Assam. (2) The United Khasi-Jaintia Hills District shall comprise the territories which before the commencement of this Constitution were known as the Khasi States and the Khasi and Jaintia Hills District, excluding any areas for the time being comprised within the cantonment and municipality of Shillong, but including so much of the area comprised within the municipality of Shillong as formed part of the Khasi State of Mylliem : *CAD, Vol. IX, 7th September 1949, p. 1056. †Ibid., pp. 1056-1057.

974 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES Provided that for the purposes of clauses (e) and (f) of sub-paragraph (1) of paragraph 3, paragraph 4 and paragraph 5 and sub-paragraph (2), clauses (a), (b) and (d) of sub-paragraph (3) and sub-paragraph (4) of paragraph 8 of this Schedule, no part of the area comprised within the municipality of Shillong shall be deemed to be within the District. (3) Any reference in the Table below to any district (other than the United Khasi—Jaintia Hills District) or administrative area, shall be construed as a reference to that district or area on the date of commencement of this Constitution: Provided that the tribal areas specified in Part II of the Table below shall not include any such areas in the Plains as may, with the previous approval of the President, be notified by the Governor of Assam in this behalf. Table PART—I 1. The United Khasi-Jaintia Hills District. 2. The Garo Hills District. 3. The Lushai Hills District. 4. The Naga Hills District. 5. The North Cachar Hills. 6. The Mikir Hills District. PART—II 1. North East Frontier Tract including Balipara Frontier Track, Tirap Frontier Tract Abor Hills District, Misimi Hills District. 2. The Naga Tribal Area.’ ” ***** *Shri Rohinikumar Chaudhari : ...But I would say that the amendment which he (Dr. Ambedkar) has moved this morning is merely a Camouflage. The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : Camouflage for what? Shri Rohini Kumar Chaudhuri : Because Dr. Ambedkar seems to indicate by this amendment that he has altered his view in regard to the inclusion of any part of the Shillong Municipality in the autonomous district. Dr. Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : I have not altered my view. Shri Rohini Kumar Chaudhuri : Paragraph (2) of the amendment as it stands includes... Shri T. T. Krishnamachari : May I point out, Sir, that we here are completely disinterested in this matter and there is no need for any comouflage at all. Mr. President : There is no question of comouflage because the paragraph is perfectly clear that he wants to exclude, the Municipality of Shillong except that part of it which is comprised in the state of Mylliem. *CAD, Vol. IX, 7th September 1949, pp. 1063-1064. †Ibid., p. 1064.

975DRAFT CONSTITUTION ***** *The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : Sir, I did not think that my amendment No. 331 substituting a new text of paragraph 19 would cause any kind of difficulty such as the one which I now find. I did not, therefore, consider it necessary to spend much time in explaining the provisions contained in paragraph 19. But now that so much debate has taken place of an acrimonious sort I am bound to explain the provisions as contained in the new amended paragraph 19. Now, the chief part of the controversy has centred round subparagraph (2) of paragraph 19. I should like to explain what this means. It means that so far as the United Khasi-Jaintia Hills District is concerned which is mentioned as entry 1 in Part I of the Table, that portion of the area comprised within the municipality of Shillong and which forms part of the Khasi State of Mylliem shall be part and parcel of the United Khasi-Jaintia Hills District. It means that the part of the Mylliem State which is included in Shillong will form part of the United Khasi-Jaintia Hills District. It is realised that this part of the Mylliem State is really subject now under the new provisions of paragraph 19 to two separate jurisdictions. It is subject to the jurisdiction of the Municipality of Shillong, because by this provision we are not altering the boundaries of the Shillong municipality. The boundaries of the Shillong municipality, as defined by the Municipal Act passed by the Assam legislature, remains intact. According to that Act this particular part of the Mylliem State is part of the municipality. It is recognised that this double jurisdiction, namely the United Khasi-Jaintia Hills District and the municipality might come in conflict. In order to overcome this conflict, I have added the proviso to sub-clause (2). The effect of the proviso is this that for the purposes mentioned in the proviso the jurisdiction of the District Council of the United Khasi-Jaintia Hills District is ousted and to the extent that the jurisdiction of the municipality is restricted to this purpose mentioned in the proviso the jurisdiction of the District Council will continue over this area. The idea of the proviso is to avoid conflict of jurisdiction. Some people on the other side have said that the Mylliem State area should be completely excluded from the United Khasi-Jaintia Hills District and should be made exclusively part and parcel of the Shillong municipality. Pandit Hirday Nath Kunzru : As it is now. *CAD, Vol. IX, 7th September 1949, pp. 1070-1074.

976 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : I do not know whether that is so. The point is this, that as some one from that side said—I think my Friend Shri Rohini Kumar Chaudhuri—three-fourths of the municipality is really covered by this area. There is not the slightest doubt about it that so far as marriage laws, inheritance laws and other customs and manners are concerned, the people living in this part of the Mylliem State share the same laws, the same customs, the same marriage laws and ceremonies of the whole district. Consequently what will happen is this. Supposing this area were completely excluded from the United Khasi-Jaintia Hills districts, the result will be that these people although they are fundamentally alike to their brethren in the rest of the part of the Mylliem State with regard to marriage laws, their customs, etc., etc., they will become at once subject to the general law of inheritance, general law of marriage, all general laws which the Parliament may make or which the Assam Legislature may make. I do not think that it is right that a part of the people who are homogenous in certain matters should be severed in this manner. A part will obtain autonomy so far as their tribal life is concerned and a part will be subject to the general law to which the rest of the population is subject. It is for this reason that the Drafting Committee felt that the provision contained in sub-clause (2) and the proviso which accompanies it was the proper solution of this problem, namely, that for the purpose of the municipality as defined in the proviso that part of the Mylliem State which is part of the municipality should remain subject to the municipality, while for purposes for which the district council is constituted that part should remain subject to the district council. There is no conflict and it helps to sub-serve the fundamental purpose, namely, that a homogeneous people should be subject to the same sort of laws and to the same sort of administrative system which all of them should have and have. Now, there may be some controversy as to whether the proviso is sufficiently big enough to cover all matters that ought to be covered or whether it is too narrow. I am not prepared to express any opinion about it. The Drafting Committee has been guided in this matter by the two principal representatives, who must be credited with sufficient knowledge and information about this matter, namely, the Premier of Assam and his colleague, Rev. Nichols-Roy. If they in their wisdom think that some other matters ought to be included, the Drafting Committee will certainly not raise any objection because the Drafting Committee has nothing to do with this matter.

977DRAFT CONSTITUTION Shri Rohini Kumar Chaudhuri : Is it that the non-tribal people who live in Shillong have no voice in this matter? The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : In what matter? Shri Rohini Kumar Chaudhuri : In whatever matter you are touching on now. The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : I cannot understand the point. What we have done is that the people living in this part have a double right. They have a right to elect their representatives under the Shillong Municipality and they will have a right to elect their representatives in the District Councils. Beyond that, the jurisdiction is quite separate. I do not think there is any other point so far as this new paragraph 19 is concerned. Shri Rohini Kumar Chaudhuri : On a point of information, does the Member who is now speaking, mean to say that those people in Dimapur where there is not a single tribal person, and those people in Shillong, are to be guided entirely by the opinion of Rev. Nichols-Roy. Mr. President : He has not said anything about Dimapur. He is dealing with the question by Mr. Bardoloi that paragraph 10, subclause (d) of sub-paragraph (2) might be included in the proviso. The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : I have no objection. We leave the matter to them. If they think that certain matters should be included, why should we object? We are acting upon their advice. Pandit Hirday Nath Kunzru : May I ask Dr. Ambedkar for information on the point? Has the Drafting Committee or Mr. Bardoloi and the Rev. J. J. M. Nichols-Roy who signed the report of the Tribal Areas Committee of Assam received any representation asking for a change in regard to the position of the tribal people living within the limits of the Shillong municipality? The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : I have not questioned their credentials nor have I examined whether they have fortified themselves with any such representation. Pandit Hirday Nath Kunzru : I put this question because my honourable Friend referred to the authority of the Prime Minister of Assam and Rev. Nichols-Roy. Both these gentlemen have signed the report of the Committee to which I have referred and that Committee says that the limits of the Shillong Municipality should be what they are now and does not suggest any change in the status of the people living in that area.