460 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
the Rau Committee. That Committee prepared a Draft Bill and sent questionnaires to various people, and considered and analysed the answers and they prepared another Bill. But before proceeding any further with their work, they were met with an initial difficulty. They found that there was another blunder in connection with the Acts of 1937 and 1938. They were of opinion that the Act of 1937, as it was amended by the Act of 1938 did not apply to agricultural land. the difficulty arose in this way that the first Act of 1937 was passed by the Legislative Assembly when agricultural land was a subject no longer cognizable by the Centre.
Mr. Deputy Speaker : The House stands adjourned to 2-30 p.m. The Assembly then adjourned for Lunch till Half-Past Two of the Clock.
The Assembly re-assembled after Lunch at Half-Past Two of the Clock, Mr. Speaker ( The Honourable Mr. G. V. Mavalankar) in the Chair.
Sreematty Annie Mascarene (Travancore State): I wish to raise a point of order. May I know whether it is the duty of a Member of this House to attend the session of the legislature throughout ?
Mr. Speaker : It is hardly a point of order. A member need not attend any discussion if he does not like to do so. But I will make one observation. If a member makes a speech in support of or in opposition to a Bill, it is his duty to remain present in the House to hear the reply.
Sreematty Annie Mascarene : If he is absent for a few days and then comes back and complains that he is not aware of the agenda of the House, can that be excused, Sir ?
Mr. Speaker : He will be judged by his statement before the House.
Mr. Naziruddin Ahmad : Before we parted for Lunch today I was dealing with the first part of the history of this legislation. The Act of 1937 and the amending Act of 1938 led to difficulties with regard to the daughter and a large number of Bills were brought forward to clarify her position. At that stage the government agreed to have the matter examined and appointed the Rau Committee. The Rau Committee soon found that the legislature had no jurisdiction to pass the Acts so far as agricultural land was concerned. The point arose