224 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
to the Hostel. The statement says that the President “noticed serious irregularities in the subscription book and called for account books and the Society having refused the grant was stopped.” I am sorry to have to use strong language but I must state that all these statements are issues of untruth for which there is no mitigation.
Now the real facts are these :—The Hostel at Sholapur was opened in 1925. The Municipality gave a grant from the commencement of the Hostel. For the two years 1925 and 1926 the grant was paid regularly without any hitch. There was no inspection nor was there any examination of the accounts of the institution. The Municipality was satisfied with the audited accounts of the institution. But the attitude of the Municipality, which came into existence after the elections in 1927 and particularly of the President, Dr. V. V. Mulay, underwent a complete change. It so happened that the Chairman of the School Board paid a surprise visit to the Institution in the beginning of the year, 1927, in the course of which he inspected the hostel and examined the accounts. As usual he wrote out his remarks in the Visit Book stating that the accounts were kept in the best manner possible. The copy of the said remarks was forwarded by the Superintendent to the President.
But that gentleman, instead of being pleased, showed by his subsequent conduct as though his plan was foiled by the favourable remarks of the Chairman of the School Board. For, immediately afterwards he demanded from the Superintendent by his letter dated 19th March 1927 to produce the accounts of the institution for the years 1925 and 1926. To this a reply was sent by the Superintendent that the old books of account were sent to the Head Office in Bombay and were destroyed after the close of the year and that the books of the current year were available and were offered for examination.
In the meantime the Municipality appointed a Sub-Committee consisting of Mr. Buwalal Vakil, Vice-Chairman of the School Board and Mr. Shivlal Appa Deshmukh, Member of the School Board to examine the accounts. This Committee composed of the