Integrity Score 405
No Records Found
No Records Found
In Retirement continues...
An acknowledgement of this letter was received but I do not
think that any action was taken on it.
I also sent a copy of this letter to the President who wrote to me
in reply:
“I have read with great interest your letter regarding changes in the Constitution which you propose. I agree with you in your analysis of our history
and I know that there are separatist tendencies prevailing even now. It is a
fact that it is only since 1950 that the whole of India, as it is today, is being
ruled under one Constitution and one Supreme Head of the Nation with one
Parliament, one Prime Minister and one Cabinet for a number of matters
connected with the administration of the country and it is not only desirable
but also necessary that this position is safeguarded. It is also true that
the British Government passed the Act of 1935 providing for a Federal
Constitution in it more with a view to keeping in check what then were
known as provinces which were under the Congress influence with the help
of Indian States, minorities etc. But the idea of autonomy of the Provinces
was very strong and it was really the Chief Ministers of the Provinces who
belonged to the Congress who insisted upon the provisions relating thereto.
The States came in at the end and practically no objection was raised on their behalf and the status given to the Provinces was more or less given to them
and they were satisfied. It was not as if the States insisted upon autonomy and
the Provinces were brought in line with them. It was just the other way
about. So you can understand the difficulty that will be faced in introducing
the change which you suggest. Some of us were even then anxious to have
some unifying power and some of the provisions giving power to the Centre
were the result but we could not do more to get the Provinces under the
influence of the Centre.
To be continued...