416 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
the matter of recruitment of the Scheduled Castes in public services to the discretion and goodwill of the appointing officers. These officers are either Europeans, Hindus or Muslims. The European is blissfully ignorant of the Scheduled Castes, and he has never made the protection of the interests of the Scheduled Castes his special concern. So long as his general authority is maintained he is prepared to follow the advice of his Hindu or Muslim subordinates. The Muslims are naturally striving to strengthen their own position. They are concerned to see that as many vacancies as possible should go to the Muslims : at any rate all those which are reserved to them. The Hindus who had so far the monopoly in the public service and who never know how to share the good things of life with others want to keep the balance to themselves. With their self-interest combined with their age-old prejudices against the Scheduled Castes the Hindus will never be fair to them. It is a sheer delusion to leave to the discretion of such officers the question of the recruitment of the Scheduled Castes and to hope that the Scheduled Castes will as a result of it secure a fair share of representation.
- The question of entry into the Public Service is an important question for all minority communities. But to the Scheduled Castes it is a vital question, a question of life and death. There are many reasons why this must be so. In the first place, it is a question of opening up a career for youngmen from the Scheduled Castes. This is an aspect of the question which the Scheduled Castes, and even the Government of India, cannot ignore. Trade and Industry, as openings for a career, are all blocked to youngmen of the Scheduled Castes. It is only in Government service that they can find a career. While this is an important aspect, it is not the only aspect which makes this question so vital. For there is another aspect which is calculated to invest it with such importance. That aspect relates to the effect which the bestowal of Government patronage has in encouraging the spread of education in a community. The case of the Hindu community is quite in point. The rapid progress which the Hindu community has made is of course very striking. But it is very seldom realized that the reason why education has taken such deep root in the Hindu society is entirely due to the assurance that education opens up a career by entry in Government service. Such assurance of career is absolutely necessary