114 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
mind to the various suggestions that it hopes to receive as a result of circulation.
Mr. N. M. Joshi (Nominated Non-official): I hope it will be better.
The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : I hope so from everybody’s point of view. All that therefore I propose to say is to tell the House what has led the Government of India to take this responsibility upon its shoulders.
The House will recall that this matter was considered and great deal of attention was devoted to the question of the recognition of trade unions by employer, and all those Honourable Members who have read the Report of the Royal Commission on Labour will realise what great emphasis the Royal Commission laid on the recognition of trade unions as a measure for the healthy growth of trade unions and for amicable relations between employers and workers. The House will also remember that the Royal Commission at that stage stated that they would very much desire if the recognition was achieved voluntarily by the consent of the employers without any legal obligation upon them. The House will also remember that the Royal Commission reported in 1929,—practically 12 years have elapsed—and there has been no willingness on the part of employers to recognise trade unions voluntarily. Indeed the objections which the employers made before the Royal Commission for opposing the recognition of trade unions are still the objections which the employers are pressing for non-recognition. Consequently the situation has certainly not improved.
As Honourable Members will remember, this question was taken up after 1937 when provincial autonomy came into being, by most of the Provincial Governments which came and took office under the new Act. There were both private measures and measures introduced by the Ministries in order to bring about recognition of trade unions by employers. For instance, in Madras there was a private Bill brought in, there was also a Government measure brought in by the Ministry of the day. In Bombay, Government brought in a measure called the Bombay Trade Disputes Act. In C.P. an Act was contemplated and a draft was prepared and the same was done in the province of the U.P. Unfortunately, except in the case of Bombay, the Ministries in other provinces resigned before their projects could assume a statutory character. However, the Government of India, after provincial