PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 921
to the Chief Secretaries of all the States personally, not to the opposite departments of the Commerce Ministry.
Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : Well, I am sorry; I perhaps made a wrong statement and I stand corrected, but all the same I want to urge that my argument is very sound, for whatever may be the preliminaries that might have been negotiated between the Minister-in-charge and the State Governments, the fact remains that the consent of the States by resolutions will be necessary in order that his amendment may become law, and if my hon. friend had by courtesy and by discussion and by consultation already obtained the goodwill of the State Governments, the subsequent action by the State Governments, namely passing of resolutions, would have been a mere matter of form. But if they have not been satisfied with such consultations as the Minister has had, he may find that there is a hurdle which he may not be able to overcome. That is all I want to say.
Now I come to the manner in which the Government has been proceeding with the amendment of the Constitution. The Constitution is only about, I believe, four years old.
Shri B. K. P. Sinha (Bihar) : Four years and seven months.
Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : Well, not an adult yet—may not be a child, and in the four years and seven months of its life it has been amended three times; I believe this the third amendment of the Constitution. I do not know of any Constitution in the world which has been amended so rapidly and, if I may say so, so rashly, by the government in office.
Now, Sir, I would like, in order to illustrate my point, to place before the House the provisions in the Constitution of the United States of America and the provisions in the Constitution of Australia for the purpose of amending the Constituton. Later on I will show what difference there is between our Constitution and these two Constitutions in the matter of the amendment of the Constitution. In the Australian constitution, Article 128 lays down this provision that the amending law shall be passed by both houses by an absolute