MUSLIMS HAVE FARED MUCH BETTER....... 347
to. It is only to alley the fears which some Members have about the Labour Department that I go up.
Mr. Ahmed E.H. Jaffer : Very kind of you.
The Honourable Dr. B.R. Ambedkar : The position with regard to the Lodi Road works was this. According to the information supplied to me by the Chief Engineer, the Muslims have got altogether contracts worth 10.5 lakhs of rupees, which is a figure much higher than the figure mentioned by my Honourable friend.
Mr. Ahmed E. H. Jaffer : Out of?
The Honourable Dr. B.R. Ambedkar : Out of three crores. My Honourable friend will also remember and take the fact into consideration that on these works the Executive Engineer was a Muslim ?
Mr. Ahmed E.H. Jaffer : What about the official pressure put on him not to give it to Muslims ?
The Honourable Dr. B.R. Ambedkar : My friend is making all sorts of allegations. I hope he has got sufficient evidence to back them up. Nobody has drawn my attention to them. If my friend will give me the facts, I will certainly make inquiries.
Mr. Ahmed E.H. Jaffer : I will give it to you on the floor of the House.
The Honourable Dr. B.R. Ambedkar : The fact is that there is a Muslim Executive Engineer in charge of these works. The second fact is that an officer of the Central P.W.D. who is in charge of works, whether he is a Muslim or whether he is a Hindu, no matter what community he belongs to, he is bound by the Central P.W.D. Code. The Central P.W.D. Code requires that the contracts shall be given to a man whose tender is the lowest. I have made inquiries overnight and I have been informed by the Chief Engineer that there was no Muhammadan whose contract was the lowest who did not receive the contract.
Mr. Ahmed E.H. Jaffer : On a point of order.....
The Honourable Dr. B.R. Ambedkar : I am not giving way. I have very little time.
Mr. President : Let the Honourable member go on.
The Honourable Dr. B.R. Ambedkar : These rules of the Central P.W.D. that the contract shall be given to the lowest bidder are subject to scrutiny from two different directions. One is the Auditor General