174 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
Mr. President (The Honourable Sir Ibrahim Rahimtoola): As a special case, the Chair will allow the statement to be made at this stage.
The Honourable Mr. H. G. Haig (Home Member) : In accordance with your permission, Sir, I will read to the House a Statement issued by His Majesty’s Government this morning in connection with the agreement reached at Poona on Saturday afternoon. His Majesty’s Government have learnt with great satisfaction that an agreement has been reached between the leaders of the Depressed Classes and of the rest of the Hindu Community regarding the representation of the Depressed Classes in the new legislatures and certain other matters affecting their welfare. In place of the System of General Constituencies combined with Special Depressed Class Constituencies contained in the Government Communal Award of 4th August last, the agreement provides for General Constituencies with which seats are reserved for Depressed Classes subject to important conditions as to the manner in which the reserved seats are filled. The Government, in their Award which was given in the absence of agreement between the communities, were solely concerned in relation to the Depressed Classes to provide adequate securities that the interests of these classes should be observed by the new legislatures. As representatives of the Depressed Classes and other Hindus acting together believe that the scheme now forwarded by them to His Majesty’s Government is adequate for the purpose, the Government, in accordance with the procedure which they laid down in paragraph 4 of their Award, will recommend to Parliament, in due course, the adoption of the clauses of the agreement dealing with representation in the Provincial Legislatures in place of the provision in paragraph 9 of the Award (Applause).
It will be understood that the total number of general seats including those reserved for the Depressed Classes under the agreement will, in each Province, remain the same as the number of general seats plus the number of special Depressed Classes seats provided for in His Majesty’s Government’s decision.