Sir, nobody wants Charity from the Central Government. I do not want that, though I belong to the poorest province, Orissa, which had a per capita, expenditure of Rs. 1-8-0 before the war but, there should be an equitable distribution of taxation. The Central Government, including the Governor-General, or the President who will be here in six months’ time, and the Ministers, must think of their primary duty of social welfare. Nowhere in the Union Constitution or even in the Union Powers Committee’s report have I found any definition of the primary duty of the Central Government. Is it only to assume all powers ? Certainly not. We will have to conceive of a system of administration so that the largest amount of taxation that will come from the people should go back to the people. It, should not be spent in manufacturing armaments or in manufacturing atomic bombs. Sir Ramaswami Mudaliar analysed provincial taxation and showed how provinces are kept merely on sustenance allowances. The foreign Government at the Centre wanted only cannon fodder from the provinces. People were driven by hunger and starvation to join the army, not, a voluntary army, to defend the British Empire, not so much the Indian Empire. This is the third time I am appealing for social justice and social security. It is understood from the press reports that the Union Constitution Bill is in the drafting or semi-drafting stage. It is no use Government assuming all powers. We may think we will function as the legislature, but the residuary power is vested in the Government, in the executive. I find from the Union Powers Committee’s report that the tendency is that they want further powers, that they want Section 126 (a) should be incorporated in the Union Constitution Bill, so that the President, now the Governor-General, and the Cabinet will have immense pourers.
