234 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
should be raised to Central control in cases where a Province does not desire to take on such control, or where in the interests of regional development extending beyond the boundaries of a Province, Central control may be considered necessary. In the case of electricity, as in the case of waterways, suitable schemes cannot be limited by provincial boundaries, and though there must clearly be the closest co-operation and co-ordination between the Centre and the Province, it does seem advisable that the Centre should be able to step in cases where State control is found necessary for regional development and where a Province does not itself wish to bring an undertaking under State control.
I don’t think I can usefully add anything to what I have already said about questions arising out of the Agenda. However before I close, I would like to say how very necessary it is for you to bear in mind that whatever decision you take it must accord with the public opinion in the country regarding the future of Indian Economy. It would be a mistake to suppose that there is no Indian public opinion on the future of Indian Economy because one does that opinion is I do not wish to dogmatise although I am sure that it is far more Leftist than many are inclined to allow.
The point I am anxious to emphasise is that the need for an accord between the plan and public opinion can hardly be exaggerated in a country like India which has as its ideal a Parliamentary system of Government. People talk about the success of planning in Russia. But they forget that the success is due largely to the fact that Russia has no Parliamentary Government. Planning in a Parliamentary Government where those who plan live under the constant threat of no confidence motions and cannot be sure whether they can remain long enough to put their plans through is a very doubtful proposition. Whether planned Economy is inconsistent with Parliamentary democracy and, if it is so, how the two can be reconciled is a very large theme and this is not the place to deal with it. All, therefore, I wish to do is to caution you that if our plans are not to be scrapped by our successors, we must lake care that they are in accord with what the large majority of people believe to be for the greatest good of the greatest number.