z:\ ambedkar\vol-02\vol2-10.indd MK SJ+YS 21-9-2013/YS-8-11-2013 789
EVIDENCE : RIGHT HON. SIR SAMUEL HOARE AND OTHERS 789
financing of the Excluded Area was concerned you were going to rectify the omission in the White Paper and allow the Governor of the Province to draw upon the general fund of the Province of Assam for the expenditure that he was likely to incur under the Excluded Area ?
Sir Samuel Hoare: Yes.
13,725. Dr. B. R. Ambedkar: The difficulty that I feel is this, that if the Governor is to have the power to draw money from the Provincial Fund of Assam in order to carry on that administration in the Excluded Area, is it consistent with this provision in paragraph 109 that the Legislature should be altogether prohibited from discussing the affairs of the Excluded Area which is supposed to provide that money ?
Sir Samuel Hoare: I think Dr. Ambedkar does raise a difficult case. It is not a case in which a very large sum is involved, for this reason, that by far the greater part of the expenditure upon the totally Excluded Area of Assam will be found from Federal funds, but I think it may be assumed that there will be a sum in addition to that needed.
13,726. Dr. B. R. Ambedkar: As you said yesterday, in all these areas where there will be partially Excluded Areas the Budget would be a common Budget, unless, of course, the Governor certified an extra amount under his extra responsibility, in which case the Budget as a whole would be placed before the Legislature and open to discussion. I do not see how the difficulty would be got over ?
Sir Samuel Hoare: We had considered the advantage in a case of that kind of proceeding, say, by a contract but get over a period of years. What I am anxious to avoid are frequent discussions.
13,727. Dr. B. R. Ambedkar: I suppose the purpose could be best served by having a common provision for both, prohibiting discussion and allowing the Governor the power to prohibit it or disallow it, whichever he thought necessary ?
Sir Samuel Hoare: It was pressed upon us very strongly by the people working in these tracts that there was a great advantage in excluding discussions in the case of the totally Excluded Areas, but I have always seen the difficulty of the expenditure in Assam from provincial funds. I think the Committee and the Delegates might consider whether supposing there was a contract budget for a period of years when the contract was renewed there might then be a discussion; but even that (I say it so that the Committee should know the whole position) is contrary to the views of a good many of the experts.
13,728. Dr. B. R. Ambedkar: But I suppose the purpose of the experts and the purpose that you have in view would be very well served by having this power of the Governor to allow a resolution and discussion ?
Sir Samuel Hoare: What we wanted to avoid was the Governor constantly having to refuse discussions of this kind. It would put him into a difficult position, and we do not. contemplate in the case of totally Excluded Areas that there would be discussions, and we do not want to take any action