Petitions
K Borooah - 'Akhond Bharot'
9 July 1947.
K. Borooah, editor-in-chief of the Assamese publication Akhond Bharot, wrote to the President of the Constituent Assembly from Gauhati on 9 July 1947. He acknowledged that some of his suggestions might not look democratic by western standards, but argued that pure democracy was never a practical proposition and that safeguards were necessary to save people from their evil selves.
Borooah’s overriding concern was a strong centre. With the cessation of British rule, he argued, all previous ideas about a weak centre should be discarded. The provinces should be subordinate to the Union, which should be the repository of all power. Defence, communications, currency, planning, customs, and justice would be central subjects. Police and justice, then provincial subjects, should also be centralised, in order to bring about oneness among the various peoples and check the separatist tendencies of the intelligentsia.
On the franchise, Borooah wanted a minimum literacy qualification of middle school standard. Giving illiterates the vote, he argued, made them playthings of self-seeking parties. Candidates for the legislature should be at least matriculates and not below the age of 35 for men and 30 for women. For the Senate, the educational bar and age limit should be even higher. He proposed a bicameral Union legislature: a Central Assembly elected on population basis and a Senate with equal representation from each unit, on the American model. Provincial legislatures would be unicameral. Laws should require a two-thirds majority, not a bare one.
The executive structure drew from both British and American models. A President elected through the legislatures for a three-year term would appoint Secretaries of State from either house. Governors would be appointed by the President and could not be natives of the unit they governed. Princely states would retain hereditary rulers functioning as governors, but with democratic forms of government.
The document is a detailed constitutional blueprint, written in numbered sections covering franchise, legislature, executive, and princely states. Borooah wrote as someone deeply sceptical of universal suffrage and concerned above all with unity, education, and experience as prerequisites for political participation.
AKHOND BHAROT
AKHOND BHAROT.
Editor-in-chief:
Shri K. Borooah, B.A.
JAYANTI BUILDINGS,
GAUHATI, ASSAM.
Dated 9th. July, 1947.
Sir,
I beg to forward herewith some suggestions regarding the Indian Constitution which I trust will receive the consideration of the Assembly. Some of the suggestions may not look very democratic from present-day i.e. western standards but from observations of the various legislatures both in our own country and in foreign lands, it is my considered opinion that pure democracy is never a practical proposition. Safeguards and restrictions are very necessary if the people are to be saved from their evil selves.
To
The President,
The Indian Constituent Assembly,
Delhi.
In the proposals which I submit, there are some points on which I wish to stress. They are as follows:-
1. A voter for a provincial legislature shall be a native or a domicile who has merged his interest in and adopted the language of the province of his adoption. Unless this is accepted, there is always likely to be bickerings among inhabitants of different units and this will cause more disunity.
2. A voter should have a minimum educational qualification which should not necessarily be nominal. The vernacular should be the accepted standard
3. Age limit should be fixed both for the elector and the elected, especially the elected. For the latter, under no circumstances should this be less than 30 years. In the first instance, it is ludicrous to expect inexperienced youngmen to be the legislators of the country. Secondly this laxity is diverting our youngmen from their studies and making them run after communism and other fads. In my opinion no young man below 25 should be permitted to take part in active politics.
We have no doubt under your able guidance the work of Constituent Assembly will be brought to a successful termination and our beloved motherland will once again stand before the world in all her glory and unity.
Yours truly,
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SUGGESTIONS RE: THE CONSTITUTION OF THE INDIAN UNION.
1.With the cessation of British rule, it is absolutely necessary to have a strong and unified centre so that it is able to keep in check all fissiparous tendencies which have been the cause of the downfall and disunity of the Hindus. The provinces should be subordinate to the Union which should be the repository of all power. Previous ideas regarding a weak centre should be discarded as this is against the real security of the people. This should be the basic principle guiding the formation of the new Constitution.
In consonance with the above basic principle, we consider the following should be the division in the powers and responsibilities of the Union Govt. and the Provincial Govts.:-
(1) The Central Govt. shall administer the following subjects: Defence, Communications, Post, Telegraph & Broadcasting, Currency, Planning & Industrial Development, Customs & Tariff, and Justice.
(2) The Provincial Govts. and other federating units shall deal with Local Administration, Education, Health, Local Roads, Agriculture, Forests, Mines, Labour and Taxation.
Police and Justice are at present provincial subjects, but in our opinion these should be made Central subjects, especially the latter. This is in order to bring about oneness among the various peoples by bringing them in daily contact especially among the intelligentia who are generally prone to separist tendencies due to selfish interests.
Regarding the administrative machinery, our suggestions are as under:-
1. FRANCHISE: Every adult both male & female shall have the right of vote provided he is a citizen of the country, subject however to a minimum literacy qualification. In our opinion this should be a middle school standard so that a voter is really able to differentiate between candidates for an election and to read and understand how the country is being governed. By giving the vote to illiterates, they are simply being made the playthings of self-seeking parties. Moreover depriving a non-literate of the vote will give an incentive for acquiring education.
(2) A voter for the Central Legislature may reside in any province and be entitled to vote provided his name is entered in the voters list pertaining to the constituency in which he resides.
(3) A voter for the Provincial Legislature shall however be a bona-fide native of the province or a domicile who has merged his interest in and adopted the language of the province of his adoption and whose name is registered in the provincial list of voters.
(4) A voter shall be entitled to stand for election to and be a member of a legislature provided he or she is at least a matriculate and is not below the age of 35 years for a male and 30 years for a female. But for the Union Senate the minimum educational qualification should be even higher while the age limit should be 45 for males and 35 for females.
That a member of the legislature should be sufficiently educated and experienced of the world should admit of no doubt. It is a work of the greatest responsibility and certainly cannot be entrusted to any Tom, Dick or Harry.
2. THE LEGISLATURE. The Union Legislature shall consist of two houses, viz.: The Central Assembly and the Senate, while for the provinces, one house viz. the Provincial Assembly should be sufficient.
(1) Election to both the Central and Provincial Assemblies shall be by direct ting on population basis. As adopted for the Constituent Assembly, for each million of population one member shall be elected to the Union Assembly while to the Provincial Assembly one member may be elected for each lakh of population. This will give approximately 300 members for the Union.
Election to the Senate will be on a different basis. It will be on principle adopted by the U.S.A. viz. each unit of the Union will be equally represented by having an equal number of members, and they will be selected by the legislature of the units respectively. Fifteen members from each unit may be adopted as the quota, so that if the Union has twenty units, there will be a house of 300 members.
(2) The period of sitting for the Assemblies both provincial and central will be three years. At the end of the period, they will be dissolved and fresh elections will take place.
The period of sitting for the Senate will also be three years but as in the constitution of the U.S.A., the house will be divided into three groups and these will be elected in rotation. In order that no member shall unless re-elected sit in the house for more than three years, only one-third the number shall be elected in the first. The second third shall be elected the second year and the remaining third in the third year. Thus each member will have equal term with another. There will be no bar to a member being re-elected.
(3) The passing of the laws (procedure) should be similar to that in force in either the British Parliament or the U.S.A. Congress, but in our opinion a bare majority is not sufficient. At least two-thirds of the country should be with the Govt. of the land and the laws should therefore receive the support of two-thirds of the house.
The Central Legislature shall enact laws in respect of All-India subjects only and the Provincial Legislatures shall have authority in respect of local matters only as determined in the Constitution of the Union. All other matters shall be dealt with by the Central Legislature
3. The EXECUTIVE. There shall be a Cabinet of Ministers for the Units for each of which a maximum number shall be fixed in the Constitution. The procedure of election shall be the same as in force at present and it will be responsible to the Legislature. A bare majority will be sufficient to carry a vote of no-confidence. The Cabinet will be absolutely responsible for the Govt of the Unit in so far as provincial subjects are concerned. In respect of Central subjects, authority must be derived from the Union.
(2) The Cabinet of the Union Govt. will be made up of the requisite number of members of the Central Legislature who will be known as Secretaries of State. The number will be fixed by the Constitution and their appointment will be at the disposal of the President of the Union. The President may select the members of his Cabinet from either house, who will also select a Vice-President to assist him in the work of the Cabinet.
(3) To all units of the Union, Governors shall be appointed by the President of the Union for a term not exceeding five years. The Governor shall be practically a ceremonial head of the unit except in case of a breach of the Constitution when he will have authority to prevent such breach.
No one shall be a Governor of a Unit who is a native of such Unit, but this shall not apply in the case of the princely states where the hereditary ruler shall be the head of the state.
(4) The President of the Union should preferably be elected directly by the voters but as this may entail huge expense and labour, the election may be carried out through the newly-elected legislatures. The term of office of the president shall be for three years synchronizing with the dissolution of the legislatures. A retiring President may seek re-election for one more term.
(5) The procedure for the salaries of the President, the Vice-President, the Ministers of State, the Governors, and the Members of the Legislatures shall be fixed in the Constitution.
4. The Constitution. The procedure for alteration of the Constitution should be similar to the procedure adopted in the U.S.A. Constitution and should be embodied in it.
5. The Princely States. The position of the Rulers of the States should be similar to that of the Governors of the Provinces. The States must have democratic forms of Govt. similar to the other parts of India. The Rulers will be hereditary and there will be no limit to their period of occupation.
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