z:\ ambedkar\vol 08\vol8 03.indd MK SJ+YS 28 9 2013 72
72 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES Areas of Recruitment Number of Recruits drawn
1 N.-W. Frontier Province . . 5,600
2 Kashmir . . 6,500
3 Punjab . . 86,000
4 Baluchistan . . 300
5 Nepal . . 19,000
6 United Provinces . . 16,500
7 Rajputana . . 7,000
8 Central India . . 200
9 Bombay . . 7,000
10 Central Provinces . . 100
11 Bihar & Orissa . . 300
12 Bengal . . Nil
13 Assam . . Nil
14 Burma . . 3,000
15 Hyderabad . . 700
16 Mysore . . 100
17 Madras . . 4,000
18 Miscellaneous . . 1,900 Total … 158,200
The Simon Commission found that this state of affairs was natural to India, and in support of it, cited the following figures of recruitment from the different Provinces of India during the Great War especially because “it cannot be suggested that any discouragement was offered to recruitment in any area ” :
Combatant Non-combatant Recruits Recruits Province Total Enlisted Enlisted
Madras … 51,223 41,117 92,340
Bombay ... 41,272 30,211 71,483
Bengal ... 7,117 51,935 59,052
United Provinces ... 163,578 117,565 281,143
Punjab ... 349,688 97,288 446,976
North-West Frontier ... 32,181 13,050 45,231
Baluchistan ... 1,761 327 2,088
Burma ... 14,094 4,579 18,673
Bihar & Orissa ... 8,576 32,976 41,552
Central Provinces ... 5,376 9,631 15,007
Assam ... 942 14,182 15,124
Ajmer-Merwara ... 7,341 1,632 8,973
Nepal ... 58,904 .. 58,904
Total ... 742,053 414,493 1,156,546