We know so much about the work done by the Father of our Nation, Mahatma Gandhi and we are all followers of that great man. But when we look to the actual working in the provinces and in the Centre we find nothing done. It is all very good to say that there must be a separate portfolio for the backward classes and that there must be a Minister and Parliamentary Secretary from the backward classes. My feeling is that if you appoint some Ministers and create some posts and give some portfolios to Scheduled Castes and Tribes you can improve the condition of those people. I know the working of the last Ministries in the provinces. In the province of Bombay there were no Ministers or parliamentary secretaries from the Scheduled Castes, but the welfare work done there was far more and better than that done in any other provinces in the country. So that without having special Parliamentary Secretaries or Ministers or special officers a good deal can be done for the scheduled Castes. We know that the Centre has two very important Ministers like Dr. Ambedkar and Mr. Jagjivan Ram. But we know, too, that in the Scheduled Castes Board there are 3,000 applicants, but only 625 scholarships. What is the use of having Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries if you do not have money? The whole question is that you must have money. If the provincial Ministers and the Central Ministers who are all followers of Mahatma Gandhi have sufficient funds at their disposal, without creating any posts or portfolios, they can do the work for the Scheduled Castes very well and raise them to the general level of society.
