PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 929
But this Municipal Law still remains on the Statute Book. The result has been that under this Act—if my hon. friend will refer to the Schedule, he will find that the Schedule practically mentions, although in terms of duty, people who are doing scavenging work or street-cleaning work, and things of that sort, and who are mostly Scheduled Castes or the untouchables—it has become quite impossible for them even to go on strike, because the terms of resignation must be three months’ notice. Nothing has been done so far as that Act is concerned. I will take now another item, the U. P. Municipalities Act, II of 1916. I think it is section 85. Yes. There again, the provisions of that section are more or less similar to the provisions of the Bombay Municipal Servants Act. There again it is said that a sweeper employed by a Board who, except in accordance with the terms of a written contract of service, or without a reasonable cause, of which notice has been given, resigns or abandons his employment, shall be liable upon conviction, to imprisonment which may extend to two months. I think these laws, if I may say so, are absolutely uncivilised laws. No country in the world today regards breach of contract of service as an offence punishable with imprisonment or with fine. It is just damaging, but nothing has been done here.
Then, I will refer to three other Acts, one is the Bombay Herediatary Village Officers Act of 1874. Those who work or officiate under this Act are divided into two classes. My friend, Mr. Dhage, must be quite familiar with it, although the Home Minister himself may not be. I do not know what the system is in his province, but there the servants are divided into two classes, one class are called officers and the other are called village servants, although both are paid in the ancient form of payment, viz., land assigned for service out of which they have to eke out their income. The land that has been assigned to them was in ancient times, probably during the time of Shivaji or during the time of the Peshwas. No addition has been made to the land then assigned. They have been cutting up and sharing their land into bits and bits, and probably no one individual owns more than one-hunredth of an acre of land, yet these poor people are sticking to that land. Now,