CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY DEBATES 75
- Shri Ramnarayan Singh (Bihar : General) : Sir, I congratulate my Honourable friend Dr. Ambedkar on the opportunity he got of introducing this Constitution Bill and I support his motion…..
†Dr. F. S. Deshmukh (C.P. & Berar : General) : Sir. I am thankful to you for giving me this opportunity to express my views on the proposed Constitution. The time is limited and therefore my observations can only be of a very general nature. When consideration of the various clauses takes place I shall unfortunately not be present here. I am therefore all the more grateful to have these few minutes.
The speech delivered by my Honourable friend Dr. Ambedkar was an excellent performance and it was an impressive commentary on the Draft that has been presented. As is well known, he is an Advocate of repute and I think he ably argued what was before him. He would perhaps have shaped the Constitution differently if he had the scope to do so. In any case I think he admitted his difficulties fully when he said that after all you cannot alter the administration in a day. And if the present Constitution can be described in a nutshell it is one intended to fit in with the present administration……….
‡ Shri S. Nagappa : Mr. Vice-President, Sir, I join the previous speakers in congratulating the Honourable Chairman of the Drafting Committee and all members of it. They have taken care to see that all aspects of all problems and all the reports of the various committees have been consolidated and looked into……..
Sir, I am one of those who plead for a strong Centre, especially as we all know that we have won our freedom very recently. We require sufficient time to consolidate it and to retain it for all time to come. For another reason also the Centre has to be strong. We have been already divided in so many respects, communally and on religious grounds. Now let us not be divided on the basis of provinces. So, in order to unite all the provinces and to bring about more unity, it is in the country’s interests as a whole to have a strong Centre.
Another reason why we should have a strong Centre I will mention presently. Some people say that we should have a strong Centre with a war mentality. I do not think we should have that mentality at all. We have been trained to be non-violent and truthful. These are our principles. When that is the case, there is no likelihood of the Centre having war mentality.
*CAD, Vol. VII. 5th November 1948. p. 252
† Ibid ., p 250.
‡ Ibid., p.252