My intention in moving this amendment is not to extend the period of reservation, but to see that Government takes effective care that, within this ten years’ period, the people for whom seats have been reserved are brought to the level of other advanced classes. As it is, in the various provinces there are ministries which are in charge of Harijan uplift, but in the Centre, I do not find such a ministry and I would request the Government to create a Ministry of that sort and see that a Harijan is kept in charge of this Ministry and a plan is chalked out for ten years so that these people are brought to the level of other advanced classes, educationally, economically and socially. In order to achieve this object, I would request the Central Government to set apart 5 per cent., of its revenues in order to give grants to the Provincial Governments as they have been doing in the case of rural water-supply or in the case of medical relief to the rural areas. So also, in order that these people ire brought to the level of the other people we must have such definite plans and schemes. Unless and until such schemes are chalked out and are worked out, I do not think it will be possible for us to bring these down-trodden people to the level of other advanced communities within the short period of ten years.
