Vol. 15 · pages 871–875

852 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES consult my cabinet collegues in order to know what sort of reply I should give to this Resolution. They said that the better thing would be for me to transfer the Resolution either to the Prime Minister or to the late Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel which I very gladly did, because I did not want the responsibility to fall upon my shoulder for the answar that might be given to that. Resolution. It was then arranged between the mover of the Resolution and the members of the high command of the Congress, that although they were not prepared to accept the Resolution in all its generality so as ‘to apply to all the multi-lingual provinces then existing, they were prepared to consider the question of creating an Andhra Province. The members of the Drafting Committee were waiting to know what exactly they should enter Andhra as a separate province in the Schedule of the States. Hon. Members who are particular to know about this will find in a foot-note to the first draft of the Drafting Committee’s report that I referred to the Prime Minister in order to let me know whether Andhra should be entered in the Schedule to the Constitution, I got no reply, with the result that Andhra then did not become a separate province. It was a great surprise to me that when practically for twenty years, a party had stood by the principle of linguistic provinces, it should have developed cold feet after twenty years. Surely, 20 years was a long period for even the greatest dullared to think over the matter and come to a clear conclusion as to whether the principle that was adopted in 1921 was a mistaken principle and ought completely to be withdrawn, or whether it was a principle which should be pursued with certain modifications. The result has been that from 1949 up to this period, there has been a vacillating attitude on the part of the Government, once saying that there shall be no linguistic provinces, at another time saying, “Yes, we shall create an Andhra Province”. And unless and until one honourable gentleman had sacrificed his life for the sake of creating an Andhra Province, the Government did not think it fit to move in the matter. I have no idea and I do not wish to be harsh on the Government; but I am dead certain in my mind that if in any other country a person had to die in order to invoke a

853PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES principle which had already been accepted, what would have happened to the Government. It is quite possible that the Government might have been lynched. But here nothing has happened. The Government is playing with the proposition. The argument that has been brought forth by the Government is that if you create linguistic provinces, you will break up the unity of India. That has been the argument which one heard time and again from every member of the Government. Sir, I am surprised that such an argument should have been used. If anyone were to look up the Schedule of States attached to the Constitution, he would find that there are altogether 27 States filling up different parts—Part A, Part B and Part C. I am not taking into account Part D. Now, if you take up these 27 States, you will find that 23 States are linguistic States. Only 4 are multi-lingual. I should like to ask my hon. Friend, the Home Minister, whether he thinks that the 23 linguistic States which have existed from the very beginning of the Constitution have in any way done anything in order to disrupt the unity of this country. I would like him to answer that question. These 23 linguistic States have not been able to disrupt the unity of India. I am as keen as he is on maintaining the unity of India and I shall not support any step which will bring about the break-up of this country. We have, by God’s grace achieved not only independence but also unity, and it is our bounden duty, no matter to what party we belong, to see that this independence and this unity is retained. But, to say, in the face of this fact, with 23 linguistic States, that linguistic States would break up the unity of India is to say something which is puerile. They must produce some very weighty arguments in support of their contention that they cannot pursue a policy of creating linguistic States. Now, Sir, coming to the Andhras on whom this blessing is showered by the Government after such a long delay, what do they get by it ? First of all, as I look at the Bill, I do not, find anywhere mention about the capital of this new State of Andhra. The capital is the very life source of a State. I cannot understand how one can imagine a State without its capital. In fact, it is the capital that give life to the States.

854 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES There is no mention of it at all. Who is to create this capital ? Is it the Legislature of the new Andhra State which is to meet and decide what is to be its capital ? Is it the Executive Government of the new State which is to sit at some place and decide that the capital of the new Andhra State will be this ? There is no indication at all in the Bill, as to which is the authority which is to create this capital. Reading from the newspapers it does appear that there is no unanimity among the Andhras on the question of the capital. There is a section which wants Vijaywada, there is a section which wants Kurnool and those in favour of Kurnool I think, won by one vote or so. In a situation of this kind, I think the Government would not have fallen—I am sure about it, they have an enormous majority to beat down any opposition—if they had taken courage in both hands and said that, “in our judgement this should be the capital,” leaving liberty to the Andhras at a later stage to change it if they so liked. Sir, in connection with this question of the capital, there is one point which I would like to mention. I do not know what is the town that is going to be selected as the capital of the Andhra State, but, any how, everybody seems to be taking that whatever town is selected for the purpose of a capital, it shall be a temporary capital. That is what I hear. Now, Sir, it strikes me—whether they select a town which is Vijaywada or Kurnool or some other place—that they may be spending a certain amount of money for the construction of the necessary buildings for the housing of the capital. Surely, there must be the Secretariat: surely, there must be the houses for the Ministers .......... Shri C. G. K. Reddy (Mysore): That is very important. Dr. B. R. Ambedkar: .......... and various other things in order that the capital may come into existence. I have no idea of the amount of money the new Andhra Government proposes to spend on the creation of this temporary capital. After what is being said that this will only be a temporary capital and that the permanent capital will be selected at a later stage, what would happen ? In my judgement, what would happen is this : the five crores of rupees or so that might be spent initially on the construction of a temporary capital would all be a waste and another five or ten crores of rupees will have

855PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES to be spent on what the Andhras might regard as the permanent capital for their new State. I do not know whether the Hon. the Home Minister or the Hon. the Finance Minister who, I believe, in his most charitable way gives grants to anybody who wants to come and ask for a grant, is prepared to give five crores of rupees for a temporary capital and another five or ten crores for a permanent capital. That would certainly be a wonderful way of managing the finances of this country. Then, Sir, looking at the financial position of the new State, it has been shown that the new State will begin with a deficit of Rs. 5 crores. Many optimistic Andhras who are more keen on having an Andhra State than on stability told the investigator—Mr. Justice Wanchoo—that, in their judgement there were a variety of means whereby they could bridge the gap and make the State self-sufficient. Mr. Justice Wanchoo examined every one of the suggestions that were made to him by the various parties of the Andhra people; and he has, in unmistakable terms, said that all these are fertile imagination and that it is neither possible to increase the revenues of the new State, nor is it possible to reduce the expenditure; at the most, anything may happen either by the way of increasing the revenue or by the way of reducing the expenditure. Nonetheless, the new Andhra State will begin with a deficit of Rs. 2 crores. That is the least that the Andhras will have to face to begin with. Well, it is the concern of the Andhras whether they could make good deficit which may be Rs. 5 crores or which may be Rs. 2 crores; we have not much to say about it; it is for them. Then there is a third point which I would like to put to my hon. Friend the Home Minister. It seems to me that my hon. Friend has not considered what I might call the demographic picture of the Andhra State. What is the social composition of this State ? When I am dealing with the social composition of Andhra, I beg of my Andhra friends not to mistake me. It is not that I am making the statement, which I am about to make, by way of accusation against the Andhras, but it is a general proposition which I am enunciating and which I shall develop at the conclusion of my speech.

856 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES Sir, as I said, I am not an Andhra. But I belong to what might be called a political group—I shall not give it the honorific name of a ‘Party’—which is called the Scheduled Caste Federation. As the Leader of that group. I had the occasion to move round in the Andhra country in order to see what the condition of the Scheduled Castes there is. My picture is this that, in this Andhra country, there are, as everywhere else, as I am going to show, some big communities and some very small communities. Of the big communities, the biggest, I believe, is the Reddy community; below the Reddys come the Kamma; below the Kammas come the Kappu; and below them come the unfortunate Scheduled Castes people working as landless labourers. That is primarily the picture of this area. As I said, this is not a lonely case. There are many other areas of the same pattern. The second thing I noticed is this that all the lands practically are in possession of the Reddys. The Reddys are the biggest landlords there. Next, probably, come, the Kammas, to which my friend Professor Ranga belongs. I was told very recently how great is this evil; I was told in a very vivid way by one of the Congressmen himself. I do not know whether he would feel offended if I mention his name. It would lend great authority to the statement that I am making, but I shall not mention his name as I have not asked him. An hon. Member: Is he a Member of this House ? Dr. B. R. Ambedkar: He is a Member of the Lower House. Dr. K. N. Katju: I do not like it to be called the Lower House. Dr. B. R. Ambedkar: When we were discussing this question, my friend told me that that was by no means peculiar. There was a certain village in the Andhra area. The entire land of the village measured 1,400 acres. Out of that, only 14 acres were owned by private individuals; the rest of it was owned by a single Reddy. One has just to imagine the picture ...........