802 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
with the situation created by the shortage of labour and the shortage of coal.
The representatives of the industry also agreed at Dhanbad in December 1943 to increase the cash wages of colliery labour and grant concessions in the supply of foodstuffs.
Mr. Manu Subedar : What is the increase in wages that the employers are compelled to pay as compared with the prewar rates.
The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : I am sorry I cannot give the figure but I have got a statement here which is pretty full and I am sure the Honourable Member will find what he wants there.
Mr. Manu Subedar : What steps have the Government taken to see that the women forced into the mines in this distressful manner get at least a little more pittance than women working in other trades above ground?
The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : I can assure my Honourable friend that the wages in coal mines have increased by more than 50 per cent.
Mr. Manu Subedar : What steps have the Government taken to coerce the coal mine owners ? The Government pay for coal Rs. 9-8-0 now instead of Rs. 3-8-0 before the war. If you give so much more for coal, have you made any condition that this part of the extra will go to the women workers whom you have disgracefully forced into the mines ?
The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : I think we have taken all the steps necessary.
Mr. N. M. Joshi : Is it not a fact that the Government of India are taking measures to prevent miners being employed by military contractors in order that the miners may be forced to go into mines for work at the risk of being starved ?
The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : That does not arise out of this question.
Prof. N. G. Ranga : Do these 16,000 women possess any special qualification or skill so that they are thus forced to work in the mines, which qualifications could not be acquired by males in this country ?
The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : They are neither asked nor forced. They are only permitted to offer themselves for their traditional occupation.