1012 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
Prof. N. G. Ranga : What information have Government collected and kept in their possession of the prices which are actually prevailing in the blackmarket in which alone the ordinary working class people in towns are able to purchase most of their necessities ?
The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : I do not think Government have any information on blackmarket prices.
Prof. N. G. Ranga : Will Government collect that information ?
The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : That suggestion, I must say, does not commend itself to me.
Mr. President : Order, order. Next question.
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- Alternative Employment to Women Previously Working Underground in Mines
- Miss Maniben Kara : Will the Honourable the Labour Member be pleased to state :
(a) how many women were employed underground in coal mines in India before the last day that the ban on the employment of women underground in mines was reimposed ;
(b) how many of the women mentioned in (a) have been given alternative employment since the imposition of the ban on women working underground;
(c) the nature of alternative employment provided to them ?
(d) how their earnings in the new employment compare with their earnings while working underground ;
(e) apart from wages what the other concessions are that they have lost as a result of ceasing to work underground; and
(f) what steps Government, propose to take in order to compensate them for their loss of earnings and other concessions ?
The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : (a) About 20,000.
(b) No exact figures are available but approximately 50 per cent of the women mentioned in (a) have been given alternative employment since the re-imposition of ban. Of the remaining 50 per cent. about
*Legislative Assembly Debates (Central), Vol. IV of 1946, 21st March 1946, p. 2716.