280 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
advantage of the war effort but without undue disregard to the interests of the workers.
There have been employers who have complained that the Tribunals have been unduly soft to the workers. On the other hand, there have been complaints that the Tribunals have been unduly harsh towards the workers. I have never tried to discourage these complaints cither from employers or workers because I have always believed that the careful consideration of complaints will enable Government to prescribe the right course of action. You will find therefore that on the one hand we are suggesting the tightening of control over the drift of labour regarding which there are still serious complaints in Calcutta. On the other hand, we are also requiring Tribunals to give closer attention to the conditions of employment of workers who arc directed into national service or prevented from bettering their employment.
Control With Justice
I do not propose to enter into any of the details of the suggestions which will come for consideration in the subsequent meeting but I should like to impress upon you the fact that the war has imposed a very heavy strain upon the workers and that if we have, on account of the war, to impose a further sacrifice upon them, we should ensure that this is not done arbitrarily. Whatever the pressure from employers, the war emergency should not be the occasion for deteriorating labour conditions or lowering the dignity of labour.
In the United Kingdom vast powers are vested in the minister of Labour and National Service but they arc powers which can be exercised to an equal extent in both directions i.e., against the employer as much as against the worker. These powers have been used to bring employers and workers together so that there may be greater collaboration between them. It is this spirit of co-operation which I should like to sec inculcated in India and I am sure that it can be done if we exercise control with firmness but with full justice.
There is one other aspect of the work of the National Service Labour Tribunals that deserves notice. The recruitment for our training schemes in India and the United Kingdom has been entrusted to them and I should like to express my sincere appreciation of the care with which this task has been undertaken. But for this our training schemes could not have been a success.