266 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
In making these recommendations the authors of the Report were careful to observe : [1]
“One caveat we are bound to make. Emergencies may arise which cannot be provided for by immediate raising Government of India taxation ; and in that case it must be open to the Central Government to make a special supplementary levy upon the provisions. We must add that inasmuch as our proposals are based on war figures they should be open to revision hereafter, but not subject to change for a period of say six years, and to avoid intermediate discussion the scheme should in the meantime be regarded as part of the constitutional agreement with the Provinces. It should also be one of the duties of the periodic commission which we propose should be appointed to examine the development of constitutional changes after ten years’ experience of their working or of some similar body at that time, to re-investigate the question of the provincial contributions to the Government of India.”
These proposals were put before the Provincial Governments, for their opinion. The objections to a plan which appeared to make some Provinces bear a greater burden of the cost of the Central Government than others readily suggested themselves. Madras and the United Provinces seemed to pay 47.4 per cent. and 41.1 per cent, of their surpluses to the Government of India, while Bombay and Bengal appeared to escape with a sacrifice of no more than 9.6 per cent, and 10.1 per cent, of their respective surpluses. The inequity of this treatment seemed to be so very apparent that the Provinces against which a greater burden was set down raised loud protests. So impressed was the Government of India with the justice of this clamour that in its letter [2] to the Secretary of State it observed :
“We recommended that the initial contributions should be recognized as temporary and provisional, and that steps should be taken as soon as possible to fix a standard and equitable scale of contributions……The whole question…… requires skilled investigation ; (the difficulty of the position was
1 Report, p. 170.
2 Dated March 5, 1919 (para. 61), on the questions raised in the Report on Indian Constitutional Reforms, pp. Cmd. 123 of 1919.