PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 145
happens to come first when, as a matter of fact, that Bill might have come first. The point is that clause 6 of this Bill which provides for delimitation will certainly not come into operation until that other Bill has been passed. It is obviously so, because, we are now, as you know, amending section 21 providing for a supplementary electoral roll which itself will take a pretty long time and give us sufficient opportunity to place that Bill before Parliament.
Shri Sondhi : Why not delete the clause when it is not to come into operation.
Dr. Ambedkar : It should not be deleted.
- Shri Kesava Rao (Madras) : I have a little doubt regarding sub-clause ( b ) of clause 6. I am afraid the seats reserved for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes will be determined by the President after consultation with the Election Commission. I am doubtful that the total number reserved is not stated anywhere. Even in the Parliament and in the Constituent Assembly it was many times stated that the number should be fixed.
Dr. Ambedkar : It is there in the Constitution according to the population. All that is necessary is to know the population. As regards delimitation I have my own doubts ………
Mr. Speaker : Let not the hon. Member go into administrative details. All that the House can do is to decide the principles, leaving it to the authorities concerned to work them out in practice. But, I myself was feeling one doubt about Mr. A. P. Jain’s amendment and what was said by Pandit Thakur Das Bhargava. I am not conversant with the discussions in the Constituent Assembly nor with the discussions at the informal meeting this morning. As I understand it, all that the Members are anxious about is that, before any constituencies are fixed or delimitation is effected, this House must have an opportunity of examining it and expressing its views on that; because, it is not possible to have all these
- P. D, Vol. 4, Part II, 20th April 1950, pp. 3064-65.