Vol. 15 · pages 1086–1090

1067PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES have been tken by the Election Commission for formally appointing Electoral Registration Officers’, Returning Officers and Assistant Returning Officers for each constituency in all the States as soon as the modifications made by Parliament in the various Delimitation Orders are notified and the constituencies finally determined. The Returning Officers, after they are appointed, will appoint the Presiding and Polling Officers for each polling station. These latter appointments are expected to be completed by the end of November except that in areas, if any, where elections may have to be held in October they will be completed by the end of September, 1951. Shri Kamath: Has, Sir, any representation been received from any of the Part A or Part B State Governments to the effect that their law and order machinery or the other requisite machinery for polling and other purposes will not be able to cope with the huge work involved in the election and have they asked for any assistance in this regard so far as officers and others are concerned from the Centre ? Dr. Ambedkar: I have no knowlede on this point. (52) *ELECTORAL ROLLS 547. Shri Jnani Ram: Will the Minister of Law be pleased to state : (a) the States which have completed the work of publication of electoral rolls; and (b) the cost incurred by such States and the amount contributed by the Central Government ? The Minister of Law (Dr. Ambedkar): (a) The electoral rolls are expected to be finally published in all the States by the end of this month. (b) Until the work of final publication of the electoral rolls is completed, it is not possible to ascertain the exact cost *P. D., Vol. 9, Part I, 27th August 1951, p. 685.

1068 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES incurred by the State Government on this account and the Centre’s share thereof. I may however mention that during the last two financial years the amount contributed by the Government of India to Part A and Part B States as their half-share of the extra expenditure incurred by the latter on the preparation of electoral rolls was approximately 2 crores and 7 lakhs. (53) *MOCK ELECTIONS 575. Shri Bhatt: Will the Minister of Law be pleased to state : (a) at how many rural and urban places, Statewise, mock elections were held ; (b) how many voters at each place participated in the mock elections ; (c) whether there were separate booths for women; (d) how much average time was taken by each voter to cast his vote in rural and urban polling booths respectively; (e) the percentage of votes cast; (f) whether there was personation and challenged votes ; and (g) whether women took more time than men to cast their votes in rural and urban areas ? The Minister of Law (Dr. Ambedkar) : ( a) to (g) The information is being collected by the Election Commission and will be laid on the Table of the House in due course. (54) *ARTICLE 171 (b) OF THE CONSTITUTION 576. Shri Deogirikar: (a) Will the Minister of Law be pleased to state whether qualifications as equivalent to that of a graduate for electorates to elect members of the Legislative Council of a State as mentioned in Article 171( b) of the Constitution of India have been prescribed by or under any law made by Parliament ? * P. D., Vol. 9, Part I, 27th August 1951, p. 698.

1069PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES (b) If so, what are those qualifications ? (c) If not, when will such qualifications be prescribed ? The Minister of Law (Dr. Ambedkar): ( a) The hon. Member’s attention is invited to section 27( 3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, which authorises the State Governments to specify, with the concurrence of the Election Commission, the qualifications which shall be deemed to be equivalent to that of graduate of a University in India. (b) and (c) Notifications laying down the qualifications referred to above have been issued by the Governments of all the States which are to have Legislative Councils, namely, Bihar, Bombay, Madras, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Mysore. A copy each of these notifications is available in the Library of the House. (55) *MAPS OF CONSTITUENCIES 748. Shri Raj Kanwar: Will the Minister of Law be pleased to state whether Government intend to publish separately for each of the Part A, Part B and Part C States one or more maps showing the delimitation of constituencies as finally determined for purposes of General Elections ? The Minister of Law (Dr. Ambedkar): The State Governments have been requested to prepare maps showing separately the Parliamentary and Assembly constituencies for each State as finally determined. Shri Raj Kanwar: When will these maps be available to the public ? Dr. Ambedkar: As soon as they are ready, I suppose. Shri Raj Kanwar: When is that going to be, Sir ? Dr. Ambedkar: Before the Elections take place. *P. D., Vol. 9, Part I, 4th September 1951, p. 941

1070 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES Mr. Deputy Speaker: The Hon. Minister, if he has got any more definite information, he may give the House. The House expects him to give a resonable period. Dr. Ambedkar : All I can say is to request my hon. friend to go and contact the Election Commissioner. His office will probably give all the information that he needs. Mr. Deputy Speaker: The Hon. Minister is expected to be in touch with the Election Commissioner. It is his portfolio. There is no good generally giving such answers. The hon. Member can draw his own inferences. But, he expects that the Government will be able to say, within a month or two months and so on. All the three answers do not appear to be definite at all. Dr. Ambedkar: I have no information with me on the point. Prof. Ranga: Mr. Deputy Speaker, my objection is that any of the Hon. Ministers should get up and ask us to go to one of his subordinates and get the information is really derogatory to the dignity of the House. Mr. Deputy Speaker: I think the Hon. Law Minister only meant that whether information could be had from official sources, they must exhaust all that before taking the time of the House with respect to such matters as are available. Dr. Ambedkar: I am sure about it, that my hon. friend Prof. Ranga goes to officials on many other occasions without feeling any loss of dignity. Prof. Ranga: This sort of answer raises another controversy. We may or we may not go. But, it is not for the Minister to ask us when we ask for information that we should go to one of his subordinates and get that information, instead of himself getting the information. Pandit Thakur Das Bhargava: Will the Hon. Ministers themselves not resent if Members went for information to the officers subordinate to them apart from the question of the dignity of Members ?

1071PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES Mr. Deputy Speaker: I will pass on to another question. It is usual to refer to books and officers before coming to the House. Shri A. C. Guha : We have been issued a circular that we should not go and see the officers. How can the Hon. Minister ask us to go to an officer and get the information ? It is the function of the Minister to supply the information. (56) *TRIBAL CHRISTIANS AND GENERAL ELECTIONS 770. Shri S. C. Samanta: Will the Minister of Law be pleased to state : (a) whether tribal Christians (Adibasis) will be debarred from contesting the coming general elections from Scheduled tribes constituencies as Scheduled tribes candidates; and (b) if there be no bar, whether their elections will be questioned in and taken up as election disputes by the Election Tribunals ? The Minister of Law (Dr. Ambedkar): ( a) The hon. Member is in effect asking me for an interpretation of the relevant legal provisions contained in the Representation of the People Act, 1951, and the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950. A candidate for a seat reserved for the scheduled tribes in any State must be a member of a Scheduled tribes as listed in the Scheduled Tribes Order of the President. I cannot say whether the persons referred to in the question as “tribal Christians” are members of any scheduled tribe or not. As regards part ( b) of the question the attention of the hon. Member is invited to section 100 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, which contains the grounds on which an election may be called in question. In particular, he may see sub-section (2), clause ( c). *P. D., Vol. 9, Part I, 4th September 1951, p. 972.