Vol. 15 · pages 141–145

124 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES REPRESENTATION OF THE PEOPLE BILL —contd. *The Minister of State for Transport and Railways (Shri Santhanam): I beg to move: “That the Bill to provide for the allocation of seats in, and the delimitation of constituencies for the purpose of elections to, the House of the People and the Legislatures of States, the qualifications of voters at such elections, the preparation of electoral rolls, and matters connected therewith, be taken into consideration.” I do not propose to speak at this stage. By the end of the discussion I expect the Minister in charge will be present and he will then reply. If he is not present then I shall reply to the debate. Mr. Deputy Speaker : Motion moved. Shri Bharati (Madras): This is a very important Bill and may I suggest that it would help the discussion to a very great extent if the Hon. Minister in charge of the Bill elucidated certain points which are very necessary, so that we may not traverse unnecessary ground. The Hon. Minister, Dr. Ambedkar, has just come to the House. It was only because he was not here that Hon. Mr. Santhanam made the formal motion. If Dr. Ambedkar had been here he would certainly have made a very useful speech. I am prepared to speak after the Hon. Dr. Ambedkar has sopken. However, I leave it to the House. The Minister of Law (Dr. Ambedkar): Sir, at the outset I must apologise to the House for my delay in reaching the House. I was told that the Insurance Bill would not be finished before 4-30 p.m. and that a message would be sent to me in my room ........................... Shri Kamath (Madhya Pradesh) : There are always surprises in life. Dr. Ambedkar : With regard to this Bill it is obvious that the Bill deals with four questions. Firstly, it deals with the allocation of seats for the House of the People among the different States. Secondly, it deals with the fixing of the total seats for the State Legislative Assembly. Thirdly, it deals with *P.D., Vol. 4, Part II, 18th April 1950, pp. 3000-6.

125PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES the questions relating to the registration of voters for election to Parliament and election to State Assemblies. And fourthly, the Bill proposes to fix the composition of the State Legislative Councils and the registration of voters for the Councils. I propose to take each of these points and explain to the House what exactly the Bill does. First I propose to explain to the House the question of the allocation of Parliamentary seats among the States. The allocation proposed by the Bill is shown in the First Schedule. The House will recall that the Constitution lays down in article 81 the rules which have to be observed in the matter of distributing seats in Parliament among the different States. The rules to which I made reference are laid down in article 81(1)(b) and 81(1)(c). The first rule which this article lays down is that the constituency shall be so determined that there shall be not less than one member for every 750,000 and not more than one for every 500,000 of the population. The second rule which this article lays down is that whatever standard figure is chosen between these two figures—the maximum and minimum—that standard figure, so far as the States in Parts A and B are concerned, shall be uniform throughout the territory of India. That is the general direction given by the Constitution which this Bill is bound to conform to. The standard figure adopted in this Bill for the purpose of allocating seats is one Member for every 720,000. It will be seen that this figure is in between 750,000 and 500,000. The seats for the different States are arrived at by dividing the total population of each State by this standard figure of 720,000 and you get the total number of seats for each State set out in the First Schedule to this Bill. The total population is as estimated on the 1st March 1950 according to the order issued by the President under the appropriate article of the Constitution. I believe it is article 347 ........... Shri Bharati : Article 387. Dr. Ambedkar : I believe hon. Members have got the notification issued by the President in which the population of the various States as estimated has been shown ...........

126 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES Shri Bharati : We have not a copy of it. When was it issued ? Dr. Ambedkar : It was issued on the 17th April 1950. Shri Bharati : That was yesterday. We have not been supplied with a copy. Dr. Ambedkar : I am very sorry. It is in the Gazette. We are in such a great hurry that long intervals are not permissible. Dr. Deshmukh (Madhya Pradesh): Sir, the figures of population are essential for the Debate. Dr. Ambedkar : I think they will be circulated. However, I shall read them out. Part A States Assam ... ... 8.51 million Bihar ... ... 39.42 ” Bombay ... ... 32.68 ” Madhya Pradesh ... ... 20.92 ” Madras ... ... 54.29 ” Orissa ... ... 14.41 ” Punjab ... ... 12.61 ” U.P. ... ... 61.62 ” West Bengal ... ... 24.32 ” I do not think I need trouble the House with the population figures for States in Part B and Part C. Shri Raj Bahadur (Rajasthan): We want them. Dr. Ambedkar : Then I will read them out. Part B States Hyderabad ... ... 17.69 million Jammu and Kashmir ... ... 4.37 ” Madhya Bharat ... ... 7.87 ” Mysore ... ... 8.06 ” Patiala and East Punjab States Union 3.32 ” Rajasthan ... ... 14.69 ” Saurashtra ... ... 3.96 ” Travancore-Cochin ... 8.58 ”

127PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES Part C States Ajmer ... ... 0.73 million Bhopal ... ... 0.85 ” Bilaspur ... ... 0.13 ” Coorg ... ... 0.17 ” Delhi ... ... 1.51 ” Himachal Pradesh ... 1.08 ” Cutch ... ... 0.55 ” Manipur ... ... 0.54 ” Tripura ... ... 0.58 ” Vindhya Pradesh ... 3.88 ” That is the population as calculated on the 1st March 1950. Shri Kamath : What about the Andaman and Nicobar Islands ? Dr. Ambedkar : I have not got the figures here, and they do not form part of this scheme. Shri Bharati : Is any Member given to Aandamans in the Schedule ? Dr. Ambedkar : Yes, but that is a separate thing altogether. I am coming to that. I have given to the House the total population of the States in Part A, Part B and also in Part C. Dr. Tek Chand (Punjab): Are these based on the census of 1941? Dr. Ambedkar : They have been calculated for the purpose of this Schedule by the Census Commissioner who must be taken to be the final authority in this matter ; he has advised the Election Commissioner that these should be the standard figures that may be taken as the basis. Dr. Tek Chand : How have they been calculated ? Dr. Ambedkar : It is a very difficult thing to say now. They have been calculated in the manner prescribed in the Constitution (Determination of Population) Order, 1950, and the President has accepted them.

128 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES As I said, the First Schedule refers to the House of the People. The seats for the States in Part A and Part B have been calculated on the basis of one Member for every 720,000 of the population. With regard to Part C, hon. Members will remember that the determination of the seats for States in Part C is set out in article 82. That article 82 practically leaves it to Parliament to decide it in the best manner it can without being bound by the two rules which have been laid down in article 81. Consequently, really speaking, this standard figure of 720,000 could not be made the basis for the allocation of seats to States in Part C because on that basis most of those States will not even get a single seat in Parliament. Consequently, what has been done is that they have been just given one seat for the purpose of securing their representation in Parliament without being bound down by any of the rules that have been laid down for States in Part A and Part B. Shri Syamnandan Sahaya (Bihar): But in cases where there is more than one seat ? Dr. Ambedkar: I am coming to that. With regard to Delhi an exception has been made, namely, that Delhi has been given three seats. Shri Raj Bahadur: Why was this exception made ? Shri Bharati: Because it is the Capital. Dr. Ambedkar : One of the reasons is that Delhi has quite a big population as compared to the other States listed in Part C. The basis we have taken with regard Delhi is one seat for every 500,000 of the population, and therefore Delhi will have three seats. Capt. A. P. Singh (Vindhya Pradesh): Why has this standard of 500,000 not been taken as a basis in the case of Vindhya Pradesh ? Vindhya Pradesh has been given only five seats. Dr. Ambedkar: Vindhya Pradesh has a big population. What I say is this, that we are trying to upgrade where upgradation is necessary ; we are not trying to upgrade where