448 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
members of this House who are mostly Congressmen working under the guidance of Mahatma Gandhi, have all along been taking keen interest in the cause that was so dear to Gandhiji. I do not think that on that point it is at all necessary that an assurance need be given to this House or to the people outside that we are very praticular of safeguarding the interests of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, in so far as the question of representation of these castes is concerned in the House of the People as also in State Legislatures. But it appears that there have been certain facts in the knowledge of hon. Members on account of which they had to make certain remarks yesterday.
So far as the spirit of this Bill goes, it is a laudable and welcome measure, providing for the representation of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the
12-00 N OON House of the People as well as State Legislatures. But this provision need have been made only if there is no provision for it in the law as it exists at present.
Reading the Constitution, I find that there is already a provision for the representation of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in this House and also in other Legislatures. Article 330 is very clear on this point. Clause (2) of article
330 says :
“The number of seats reserved in any State for the Scheduled Castes or the Scheduled Tribes under clause (1) shall bear, as nearly as may be, the same proportion to the total number of seats allotted to that State in the House of the People as the population of the Scheduled Castes in the State, or of the Scheduled Tribes in the State or part of the State, as the case may be in respect of which seats are so reserved, bears to the total population of the State.”
So, my submission is that this provision applies to all the States. It does not apply only to Part a States, or Part B States, or any particular state. Probably the confusion arises on account of reference to article 332, where provision is made for representation in the State Assemblies. I think this Bill is only a repetition of the provision in the Constitution. If it is argued that there is no provision in article 330 of the Constitution for the representation of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the House of the People, I do not think