As far as the first amendment is concerned, I find that the armed forces which at present exist in the States are to be under the control of the Commander-in-Chief of India : that is to say, they will be under the control of the Forces of India. But I do not understand why a special distinction should be made in the case of armed forces being retained in the States. We have in the provinces no armed forces. All the provinces today have got their police forces and there are also armed police forces, but there are no military armed forces in any province. There were none in the previous regime and there are none even now. Of course under the old regime the Indian States maintained armed forces for reasons which we know. But now when they have merged with provinces or have formed into separate units why should they have separate armed forces within the States? I wish, therefore, that all the armed forces should be removed from the States and be merged with the armed forces of India. Then they will be under the control of the Indian Union. I see no reason why the States should be given the special privilege of keeping separate armed forces. It might create many conflicts. The armed forces in India will be under the supervision of the Commander-in-Chief. If these separate armed forces are allowed to be kept in the States without any specific reasons, for what purpose will they be maintained? After all the police force is there. If any necessity arises, the armed forces will be available from the Indian Union. I therefore hope that the amendment moved by me would be considered by the Drafting Committee, that the armed forces of the States should be merged with those of the Indian Union and they should be under the control of the Commander-in-Chief of India.
