Mr. President, Sir, I feel today is a red letter day for the welfare of the minority communities that inhabit this great land. Before I proceed, I have to congratulate the Honourable Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel for this great tact and ability in bringing a report to the satisfaction of the majority and minority communities of this land. The document that has been produced by the Advisory Committee, I consider to be the Magna Charta for the welfare of the Harijans of this land. Sir, as has been previously said by my friend, it was due to the third man residing in this country that brought out several minority communities. I do admit that, but, Sir, it was given to Mahatma Gandhi as a great Avathar to find the disabilities of a section of the Hindus, namely, depressed classes known by various names, to come to their rescue and to take that great epoch-making fast which evoked all the Caste Hindus in the whole realm of India to think what is ‘Untouchables’, what is ‘Depressed Classes’, what is, ‘Scheduled Castes’ and what should be done for them. It was that Poona Pact to which you yourself have been a signatory along with me and Dr. Ambedkar, that produced a great awakening in this country. Then, Sir, one question was in the mind of everybody, whether the Poona Pact will show signs of a change of heart by caste Hindus in this country. Today I may assure you, Sir, that that change has come, though not full 100 per cent, at least more than 50 per cent. I may give you instances here. The very inclusion of Dr. Ambedkar in the present Dominion Cabinet is a change of heart of the Caste Hindus that the Harijans are not any more to be neglected. In my own Province, Sir, I may tell you the former Premier, Mr. Prakasam, has made a provision of a crore of rupees for the amelioration of the condition of the Depressed Classes (Hear, hear) and the present Premier Mr. Omandur Ramaswami Reddiar has set up a big Committee to investigate and bring a 5-year plan to ameliorate the condition of the Depressed Classes.
