Vol. 17, Part I · pages 411–415

386 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES and nationalisation of Insurance. As regard the foreign policy, the manifesto is expected to emphasize that India’s first duty should be to herself. It will urge the reversal of the present policy which is stated to have converted India’s friends into her enemies and the prevailing antagonism between the United States and India, is mentioned as an instance ..................” 1 To the Men and Women of India who are expected to think before they vote. To the men and women of India who are expected to believe that public good should come before selfish gain. ELECTION MANIFESTO OF THE SCHEDULED CASTES FEDERATION Scheduled Castes Federation is an All-India Political Party of the Scheduled Castes, established by the Scheduled Castes. In the following pages an attempt is made to set out (1) its Principles, (2) its Policy, (3) its Programmes and (4) its terms of Co-operation with other political parties. by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar 1: The Times of India, dated 3rd October 1951, under title—‘Scheduled Castes’ Emancipation : Draft Manifesto’ Reprinted, Khairmode, Vol. 10, P. 147.

387SCHEDULED CASTES’................MANIFESTO— Principles of the Party 1. The attitude of the Party in public affairs will be governed by the following principles :- (1) It will treat all Indians not only as being equal before the law but as being entitled to equality and will accordingly foster equality where it does not exist and uphold it where it is denied. (2) It will regard every Indian as an end in himself with a right to his own development in his own way and the State as only a means to that end. (3) It will sustain the right of every Indian to freedom- religious, economic and political– subject to such limitations as may arise out of the need for the protection of the interests of other Indians or the State. (4) It will uphold the right of every Indian to equality of opportunity subject to the provision that those who have had none in the past shall have priority over those who had. (5) It will keep the State ever aware of its obligation to make every Indian free from want and free from fear. (6) It will insist on the maintenance of liberty, equality and fraternity and will strive for redemption from oppression and exploitation of man by man, of class by class and of nation by nation. (7) It will stand for the Parliamentary System of Government as being the best form of Government both in the interest of public and in the interest of the individual. 2. There are two considerations which should be borne in mind in assessing the implication and sincerity behind these principles. The first consideration is that these principles though adopted by the Federation are for the benefit of all the down-trodden humanity in India. The Federation in that sense cannot be accused of being a communal organization. It may be that it is not open to all, nonetheless it is out to serve all and co-operate with all who prove worthy of co-operation.

388 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES 3. There may not be anything new in the Principles of the Scheduled Castes Federation. They will be found in the manifestoes of most political parties. But there are two considerations which distinguish the Federation from other Political Parties. The first consideration is that the principles of the Federation are not adopted by the Federation merely to look politically respectable or merely to delude the voters. They are natural to the Federation. They are borne out of the social condition of the Scheduled Castes. The Scheduled Castes Federation cannot exist without adopting these principles and without holding up to those principles and living up to them. The principles of the Scheduled Castes Federation are the life book of the Scheduled Castes Federation. They are not the external marks of a political faith. They are the outward register of the inward feeling. They are not cloak worne for the purpose of winning the election. Many parties may adopt these principles. But no party can be so true to the principles as the Scheduled Castes Federation. This is the second consideration in valuing the principles of the Federation. The Policy of the Party 4. The policy of the Party will be to try to give effect to the principles set out above. The policy of the Party is not tied to any particular dogma or ideology such as Communism, or Socialism, Gandhism, or any other ism. The Party will be ready to adopt any plan of social and economic betterment of the people irrespective of its origin and provided it is consistent with its principles. Its outlook on life will be purely rational and modern, emperistic and not academic. The Programme of the Party I. Old Problems 5. The programme of any Political Party in India must be integrally connected with the legacy left by the British. The legacy of the British has its credit side, and also its debit side. On the credit side must be reckoned (1) a uniform system of law, (2) a uniform system of justice, and (3) a uniform system and administration. On the debit side must be reckoned (1) maintenance of the archaic

389SCHEDULED CASTES’................MANIFESTO— social system prevalent among the people of the country, (2) maintenance of the privileged class in education and in the Services, both Civil and Military, (3) complete neglect of the Untouchables, of the Backward Classes and of the Tribal People, (4) impoverization of the country. A. Problem of Raising the Backward Classes 6. The Scheduled Castes Federation will fight for the raising of the Backward Classes, the Untouchables and the Tribal people both in the matter of Education and Services. This will receive topmost priority in the plan of action by the Federation and will be treated as fundamental. Neither delay or want of means will be allowed to stand in the way of carrying this part of the Programme into effect. The sort of Education which the Scheduled Castes Federation has in mind with regard to these classes is not primary education, not even Secondary Education. What it has in mind is advanced education of such high order, both in this country and outside, which will enable these classes to fit themselves for taking hold of administration. Similarly, in the matter of services, the Scheduled Castes Federation will insist on reservation, subject to minimum qualifications, so long as these classes are not able to find their place in the Civil and Military services of the country. Today there is rampant a worst sort of communalism in the Civil and Military services of the country by the higher classes. The services have become the monopoly of a few communities. When the lower classes are trying to break this monopoly by demanding that they who are at present excluded from services, are decried as communalists. The Scheduled Castes Federation will not allow this perverted logic to stand in the way of the non-privileged classes in the way of the fulfilment of their demand for occupying their rightful place in the affairs of this country. 7. The Scheduled Castes Federation believes that the gulf between the higher classes and the lower classes in this country is already very great. This gulf has already created a good deal of enmity between them. The murders, arsons and loot that were committed by members of the lower classes against members of the higher classes in 1948 in certain parts of India after the murder of Mr. Gandhi shows how deep rooted this enmity is.

390 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES The Scheduled Castes Federation is firmly of opinion that to remove the cause of this enmity is to give the lower classes the higher education and to open to them the door of services is the only solution of this problem. The artificial distinction between higher classes and lower classes based on birth must come to an end soon. But it cannot come to an end except by raising the lower classes to the level of the higher classes in the matter of education. B. The Problem of Poverty 8 (7) The economic condition of India has been described by the Planning Commission in very realistic terms. It says :- (i) The population of the Indian Union (excluding Jammu and Kasmir) has increased from 235.5 million in 1901 to 356.9 million in 1951—an increase of about 52 per cent over the half-century. The rate of increase for the first two decades was relatively low, but it has risen since then. Between 1921 and 1931, the increase was 11 per cent; for 1931-41, it was 14.3 per cent; and, for 1941-51, it was 13.4 per cent. (ii) There has been very little change in the occupational structure, despite considerable development of industries. In 1911, about 71 per cent of the working population was engaged in agriculture. For 1948, the National Income Committee puts this figure at about 68.2 per cent. Agriculture affords employment for only a part of the year, so that a large proportion of the workers engaged in this occupation are more or less idle for the rest of the year. There is thus a great deal chronic underemployment in the country. (iii) Sown area per person has shown a steady tendency to decline. For British India, sown area per person went down from 0.88 acre in 1911-12 to 0.72 acre in 1941-42. For 1948, i.e., after partition, the estimated sown area per person in the Indian Union works out at 0.71 acre. Evidence as to the trend of yields per acre is not