Dr. Ambedkar As The Member of Executive
Governor General Council
Questions and Answers
______________________________________________
PART II
31
*[f1]Help to Dependants of Enemy Air
Raid Victims
183.
Mr. H. A. Sathar H. Essak Sait: Will the Honourable Member for Labour be pleased to state :
(a)
the arrangements that have been made to succour the heirs and dependants of those who are killed or injured as a result of enemy bombing in India
;
(b) whether such arrangements for their succour will come into play immediately after the raids or the dependants are expected to go through the formalities of putting up applications
and undergoing enquiries, etc.,
before help is rendered to them; and
(c) the details of the help that was rendered
to the citizens, especially
the poorer section of
Calcutta and other places in
India, which were bombed by
the enemy for: (i) the disposal of their dead, (ii) the treatment of the injured, (iii) the
toss of their means of livelihood, and (iv) their rehabilitation generally?
The
Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar
:
(a) and (b) Provision for relief of persons injured by enemy bombing
and of the dependants of those killed by such action has been made in the War Injuries Scheme prepared by Government under the War
Injuries Ordinance.
Applications for relief have naturally to be made, but the procedure has been made as expeditious as possible. When
the person concerned is incapable of making an
application, provision has also been made to entertain applications on
his behalf.
Provision
has also been made for
advances by employers of amounts upto
Rs. 50 in each case against
awards that may be made in respect of the injury or death.
A
copy of the pamphlet containing
the War Injuries Ordinance Scheme and Regulations has been placed in the Library of the House.
(c) (i) and (ii) These are matters of Provincial responsibility
and the Government of India are not in
possession of details as to
how they worked. Full advice has been given by the Government of India as to the formation of organisations for corpse disposal and the treatment of the injured and schemes on the lines recommended have in fact been put into
operation. The Government of
India have been informed by the Provincial Governments that the schemes worked
satisfactorily. No complaints or criticisms as to their efficient working have come to the notice of the Government of India.
(iii) and (iv) The Government of India have no detailed information on these points. The scale of raiding
has hitherto been light and
as far as the information in the
possession of the Government of India would
indicate, no special
problems in this connection have
arisen in the case of any bombed area. It is understood that relief under the War Injuries Scheme has been granted in many cases and some cases are under investigation.
Mr.
H. A. Sathar H. Essak Sait : With regard to part (b) has my Honourable friend satisfied
himself that there was really no complaint of
delays ?
The
Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar
: I am not aware of any.
32
[f.2]
Summaries of the Proceedings of the Fourth Labour Conference and of Meetings of the Standing Labour Committee
The
Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar
(Labour Member) : Sir, I lay on the table a copy[f.3]
each of the following :
(1)
Summary of Proceedings of the
Fourth Labour Conference (First Tripartite
Conference) held on 71.11
August, 1942.
(2)
Summary of Proceedings of the First meeting of the Standing Labour Committee
held on 30th November and
1st December, 1942.
(3)
Summary of Proceedings of the Second
meeting of the Standing
Labour Committee held on
25th January, 1943.
33
[f.4]
Desirability of Applying the Control of Rent Act to the Notified Area, Shahdara and Delhi
211.
Mr. Muhammad Azhar Ali : Will the Honourable Member for Labour please state :
(a)
if it is a fact that most of the
workers employed in the industrial,
commercial and Government offices at Delhi reside within the Notified Area, Shahdara and Delhi.
(b) if it is a fact that the
said workers are mostly low paid staff and are in greater number than the residents of the Notified Area, Civil Station, Delhi, and
the newly expanded areas of Daryaganj and Karol Bagh, Delhi, where the
Control of Rent Act applies;
(c) the reasons for not applying the
Control of Rent Act to the Notified
Area, Shahdara, Delhi ; and
(d) if Government propose to apply the
Control of Rent Act to the residential buildings within the Notified Area, Shahdara and Delhi, if not, why not ?
The
Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar :
(a) and (b) I am prepared to
take these facts from the Honourable Member.
(c)
and (d) It is not administratively
practicable to apply the New
Delhi House Rent Control Order, 1939, to these areas, but the Punjab Urban Rent Restriction Act has been extended to them.
Mr. Lalchand Navalrai : What are the reasons for not applying the New Delhi House Rent Control Order, 1939 ?
The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar: Because one
is more expeditious.
34
[f.5]
House Rent Control Cases in New Delhi
228. Khan Bahadur Shaikh Fazl-i-Haq Piracha: Will
the Honourable the Labour Member please state : (a) the number of cases decided by the Rent Controller, New Delhi, regarding the extension of tendency of houses in New Delhi in 1942;
(b) whether there
were cases in which the landlords applied that they required the houses for their own use ;
(c) if the
answer to (b) be in the
affirmative, how many
applications from the landlords were rejected and how many accepted; and
(d) if it is a fact that the rejection of such applications
operated harshly against
landlords and is against the intention of the Rent Control Order; if so, whether the Honourable Member for
Labour proposes to enquire into such cases and to revise the decisions
of the Rent Controller, where necessary ?
The
Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar
:
The information asked for is not readily available and its collection would involve an amount of time and Labour that would not be justifiable in war time.
35
[f.6]
House Rent-Control Cases in New Delhi
[f.7]
229. Khan Bahadur Shaikh Fazl-i-Haq Piracha: Will the
Honourable the Labour Member please state : (a) the number of cases for the fixation of rent
for houses in New Delhi
which were decided by the Rent Controller, New Delhi, in
1942;
(b)
in how many cases were the
landlords asked to submit their
objections;
(c) why
the landlords were not summoned in other cases ; and
(d) whether the
Honourable Member proposes
to instruct the Rent Controller to summon landlords in
cases referred to in (c) ?
The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar: (a) 534. (b)
to (c) The information asked for is not readily available and its collection would take an amount of time and Labour that would not be justifiable in war time.
(d)
The Controller summons the landlords in all cases where it is necessary to do so for the
purpose of determining properly the matters on which he has to adjudicate, and no special instructions are necessary.
36
[f.8]
House Rent-Control
Cases in New Delhi
[f.9]
230. Khan Bahadur Shaikh Fazl-i-Haq Piracha: Will the Honourable
the Labour Member please state : (a) whether the cases for the extension
of tenancy were actually heard during 1942 in
New Delhi, by Mr. Jones, late Rent Controller, but decisions were given by his successor without hearing the parties concerned ; if so, what is the number of such cases ; and
(b) whether he proposes to appoint an officer
to re-examine such cases ?
The
Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar
:
(a) No ; the latter part of the question does not arise.
(b) Does not arise.
37
*[f10]Desirability
of Extension of the Punjab Rent Restrictions
Act to Entire Delhi Province
231. Khan Bahadur Shaikh Fazl-i-Haq Piracha: Will the Honourable
the Labour Member please
state :
(a)
whether the Punjab Rent Restrictions Act has been applied to some parts of the Delhi Province ;
(b)if it is a fact that the areas covered by the Rent Control Order have been excluded from the operation of that Act; and
(c) whether the
Honourable Member proposes
to withdraw the Rent Control
Order and advise Government to extend the application of the said Act to those areas also ; if not, why not?
The
Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar:
(a) and (b) Yes.
(c)
No. The Rent Control Order provides a speedy method of determining the fair rent of a
house not provided for by the Punjab Act and I
do not see any reason for withdrawing the Order.
[f.11]House
Rent Control in Simla
[f.12]232. Khan Bahadur Shaikh Fazl-i-Haq Piracha: (a) Is the Honourable
the Labour Member aware that in 1940 the rents of private properties in Simla were reduced considerably owing to the retention of the civil Departments of the
Government of India in Delhi and that a large number of houses remained vacant or were leased on a nominal rent by the landlords concerned during the course of that year ? If so, does Government propose not to determine the rents for that year as basic rents under the Rent Control Order ?
(b)
Is the Honourable Member
aware that the cost of repairs has gone up very high and that the Punjab Government have imposed a new tax of 7 V per cent on the properly under a new Act ?
(c)
Are 'Government aware that the landlords in Simla are suffering Financially from the restrictions imposed by the Government concerned in one way or the other ?
(d) Does the Honourable Member propose to amend The House Control Order for
Simla, so as to determine
the rents for 1939 as basic rents plus 25 per cent on account of the increased cost of repairs or alternatively to withdraw the Rent Control Order and to apply the Punjab
Rent Restrictions Act
instead ? If not, why not ?
The
Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar :
(a) Rents at the beginning
of 1940 were lower than in 1939 when landlords had raised rents to an unreasonably high figure. Houses were not, however, rented at nominal rents in 1940, and the Government of India considered that the rents of 1940 were fair rents to take as basic rents under the Rent Control Order.
(b) Yes.
(c) Landlords are not suffering financially from the restrictions imposed upon them by Government but they are prevented
from making more than reasonable profit on their
properties.
(d) No ; the Rent Control Order is an emergency
measure designed to expedite decision regarding rents of houses. If Punjab Urban Rent
Restriction Act is enforced instead, the tenants will have to seek redress in the Civil Courts which will not only be
expensive but will take a long time to
arrive at a decision.
38
[f.13]Allotment
of Central Government Employees' Quarters to Staff of Total
Schools, etc.
[f.14]
234. Mr. Muhammad Azhar Ali : (a) Will the Honourable Member for Labour please slate if he is aware of the fact that the Public Works Department quarters specially built for the Central
Government employees are
allotted to the staff of the total schools and courts in preference to the Central Government servants of certain Departments ?
(b)
Is he aware that the purely temporary staff of the so-called " entitled offices " is given preference over the permanent staff of other offices who are drawing higher salaries
notwithstanding the toss of revenue
to Government ?
(c)
Is it a fact that sister offices of the same Department are treated differently ?
(d)
Is it a fact that the Railway clearing Accounts Office
was treated as non-entitled but that decision has since been
changed ?
(e)
Does the Honourable Member propose
to review the position and
take stops to treat all the Central Government offices alike ?
The
Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar:
(a)
These quarters are meant for employees of
the Central Government and of the Total Administration of Delhi posted in New Delhi and Delhi and may be allotted to such employees working
in Schools and Courts.
(b) I am prepared to accept that the operation of the rules may have
led to the result suggested
by the Honourable Member.
(c)A
more liberal interpretation of the rules regarding offices entitled to
this accommodation has recently been
adopted and it is possible that as a result there may be some anomalies.
(d) Yes.
(e) I am prepared to examine the case of any particular office
brought to my notice, but do not propose to undertake a general review.
39
[f.15]Private
Houses leased by Government in Delhi
252.
Sardar Sant Singh: (a) Will the Honourable the Labour Member kindly state the number of private houses leased by Government in the different areas in Delhi, e.g., New Delhi, Notified area, Karol Bagh, Darya Gunj, etc. separately ? (b) When
were the First and the last houses leased in each area ?
(a) Is
it a fact that all houses were leased before the winter season began ? If not, how many were leased after the beginning of the winter season ?
(b) On
what basis is the rent paid by Government to the owners of these buildings, how were the houses classified for purposes of allotment and how were they allotted according to that classification ?
(c) In
how many cases were persons eligible for a lower type allotted a higher type, and why ?
(d) How
is the rent charged for these houses from the allottees ? (g) Is it a fact that it
cannot be more than 10 per cent of their pay ? (h) When were the first and the last houses occupied in each area, separately, during 1942-43? (I) Is it
a fact that several houses are still vacant ?
(j) How much toss have Government incurred by the difference in payments to owners as a whole and the actual rents realised from the tenants ?
(k) How much toss have Government incurred by the houses remaining vacant for months ?
(l)
Was Government not aware of the probable demands ?
(m) Is it a fact that in certain cases rents paid to owners were more than the rents realised by them immediately prior to their leasing to Government ? If so, why, and who is
responsible for this toss and what action do Government
propose to take against the officers responsible for this ?
(n) What does Government propose to do for the next year ?
(o) Will they still require more houses on lease or will they release some out of those already leased ?
(p) Are Government prepared to
have an Enquiry Committee to
look into the leasing of
houses in the past to allay
any suspicion that Government
were put to unnecessary toss due to the negligence of officers and want of proper estimate of news ?
The
Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar :
(a) and (b) A statement
containing the information asked for is laid on the table of the House.
(e) No.
Forty six houses were leased after the commencement of the winter season.
(f) Government have paid the “ fair rent “ as determined under the provisions of the New Delhi Rent Control Order, 1939.
Flats in houses suitable for allotment to officers were classi