258 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
Then, Sir, they conclude by saying :
“ If these women are removed from underground work in the present condition, the distress will be so great in the miners’ homes that it will far outweigh the evils of allowing them underground. ”
(Interruption by Mrs. Renuka Ray.)
Mr. President (The Honourable Sir Abdur Rahim): The Honourable Member is not giving way.
The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : Sir, it is true that when this matter was considered by the All-India Women’s Conference at their session held in 1935 they came to the conclusion that they would support the International Convention which was passed, in spite of the fact that they saw grave objections to the course pursued by the Government of India. Now, Sir, I claim that this view that the All-India Women’s Conference took up in 1935 which was so different from its view expressed in 1934 was due to the passing of the Convention and I am sure that if in 1935 the Convention had not been passed, the All-India Women’s Conference would have continued to agitate against the decision of the Government of India to eliminate women from coal mines. I do not want to say that there are any sinister motives for the change of front on the part of the All-India Women’s Conference in this matter but I would like to say that I am not prepared to believe that within the ten years that have elapsed there has been such a revolution in the moral and political conscience of the people of this country that they are not prepared to tolerate the action which will be annulled as soon as the emergency vanishes.
Sir, I have been told that after all, the number of women employed in coal mines is only 15,000 and that they have not been able to produce more coal. Why, then, is it that the Government of India persist in keeping these 15,000 women underground ? The answer to that question is a very simple one. In the first place……
Mr. Sami Vencatachelam Chetty : May I ask if the Honourable the Labour Member would give an assurance, a firm assurance, that he will continue to employ them whatever might be the public opinion ?
The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : If my Honourable friend has such a wicked opinion about me, I cannot help him. He is quite entitled to have whatever opinion he has about me and I am free to