246 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
up and uses its dagger and says “We shall not work and we shall go on strike unless you give us this or that, the Government are certainly very helpless in the matter. (An Honourable Member “Why don’t you meet together?”) Then Mr. Joshi referred to want of attention lo unemployment caused by involuntary circumstances. If I followed him correctly, he referred in somewhat contemptuous terms to the circular issued by the Central Government to the Provinces and to the employers telling them that it was the view of the Government of India that whenever there was any involuntary unemployment due to shortage of coal or shortage of raw material, the employers should pay certain compensation to their employees. In our letter to the Provincial Governments, we had informed them that the Government of India was prepared for a certain scale of payment to be made to the workers during this period of unemployment. We had told them that they should pay 75 per cent. of the ordinary rate of pay for the first fortnight and for the second fortnight, they should pay 50 per cent. of the wages, that the period for which this benefit was to be payable was one month and that the waiting period should be seven months. Mr. Joshi ended by saying that all that the Government of India had taken no further step in order to see that these benefits were actually made payable. Now, Sir, I should like to point out that if Mr. Joshi had read the letter that we circulated to the Provincial Governments and to employers, he would have seen that we had also made some definite proposals with regard to meeting the cost of this involuntary unemployment. In the circular letter sent out, we had stated that the cost of these benefits paid to workmen for involuntary unemployment would be admissible as a revenue expenditure for income-tax and for E.P.T. purposes. Obviously, then, if I may say so, this was a special clause in the letter and we did not think anything more was necessary. There is in addition to that Rule 81-A of the Defence of India Rules, under which it is perfectly open to workers who have been thrown out of employment by reason of these circumstances to apply to the Provincial Governments for the purpose of submitting the issue to arbitration. I am glad to say that the matter is now being pursued in that direction. As Honourable Members are aware, there is a case of arbitration going on between the employers in Ahmedabad and the workers there on this issue.