316 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
between a worker and employer to determine the wages and conditions of employment. Today we have a law whereby if the Government of India was satisfied that the terms and conditions of employment were not satisfactory they had the authority to impose terms and conditions which they thought were right and proper. I hope that although this piece of legislation has emerged as a result of the war, it will not die with the war and that it would become a permanent of our legislation system in the country (cheers). What we have done, we are conscious, is indeed very small. But I do want the public to understand that the Government of India in the matter of legislation is not in a very happy position.
In the first place, a large part of the labour legislation is written has the authority and jurisdiction of the provinces. It is they who are in a position to make labour laws. The authority of the Government is found in what is called the concurrent piece of legislation. You are all aware that although the Government of India has been given a concurrent right to pass labour legislation, there is a definite provision in the Government of India Act that whether the legislation proceeds from provincial authority or from the concurrent jurisdiction of the central legislature, the administration of labour is entirely in the hands of the provincial Government. Consequently . . . when the Government of India thinks that it should undertake legislation through its concurrent powers of legislation, it has to consult the provincial Governments before it can do so. After all when the legislation is passed, it is to be carried out by the provincial Government and unless the Government of India has the prior consent of the provisional Government, it thinks, that there is no use of passing the legislations which the administrative bodies are not prepared to look at. These are our difficulties. Our legislative speed is not as fast as other people expect. But I would say and assure that the Government has no deadend heart. It is quick and is thinking of re-organisation in labour matters (Applause).
Many people criticise the Government of India and I wonder whether it is worthwhile doing so. The Government of India may not have done much; but does it matter? To me, it seems,