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DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
Appendix I
Commission’s proposals place a peculiarly embarrassing duty on the Governor to certify candidates authorised to stand for the depressed classes ; and the proportion of representation which the Commission suggest, namely, in the ratio of three-quarters of the proportion of the depressed classes population to the total population of the electoral area of the provinces, seems likely to be unduly high. The Government of the United Provinces have calculated that in that province the Commission’s proposal would result in the return to the provincial legislature of no less than forty members in place of the single nominated member who at present represents the community. The whole problem of the representation of the depressed classes will require careful investigation by the Franchise Committee ; and at this stage we only wish to make plain that in our view their adequate representation should be secured by the best means that may be found practicable. Though there are some differences of opinion within the community, recent meetings of depressed classes associations have re-affirmed their belief in separate electorates.
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(6)
Extract from the Terms of Reference to the Lothian Committee ( on Franchise ) 1932.
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- You are aware that the present electorate in Indian provinces amounts to less than 3 per cent, of the population of the areas returning members to provincial Councils, and it is obvious that under this limited franchise, the majority of the people and many large and important sections of the community can enjoy no effective representation in the Legislatures. The principle of a responsible Federal Government, subject to certain reservations and safeguards, has been accepted by His Majesty’s Government while it has been decided that the Governors’ provinces are to become responsibly governed units, enjoying the greatest possible measure of freedom from outside interference and dictation in carrying out their own policies in their own sphere. In these circumstances, it is clearly necessary so to widen the electorate that the legislatures to which responsibility is to be entrusted should be representative of the general mass of the population and that no important section of the community may lack the means of expressing its needs and its opinions.
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- It is evident from the discussions which have occurred in various connections in the Conference that the new Constitution must make adequate provision for the representation of the De