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Memories of Another day

Memories of Another day
While my Parents Pulin babu and Basanti devi were living

Sunday, May 10, 2009

RICH ESSION and AMBEDKAR on SOCIAL MOVEMENT

RICH ESSION and AMBEDKAR on SOCIAL MOVEMENT

Troubled Galaxy Destroyed Dreams: Chapter 226

Palash Biswas


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National Issues and speeches

 

 

Dravidians and Nagas are one and the same people

Who are the Dravidians? Are they different from the Nagas? Or are they two different names for a people of the same race? It is a fact that the term Dravidians and Nagas are merely two different names for the same people. It is not to be denied that very few will be prepared to admit the proposition that the Dravidians and Nagas are merely two different names for the same people and fewer that the Dravidians as Nagas occupied not merely South India but that they occupied the whole of India—South as well as North. Nonetheless these are historical truths.

Nagas and Dravidians are one and the same people. Even with this much of proof, people may not be found ready to accept the thesis. The chief difficulty in the way of accepting it lies in the designation of the people of South India by the name Dravidian. It is natural for them to ask why the term Dravidian has come to be restricted to the people of South India if they are really Nagas. Critics are bound to ask: If the Dravidians and the Nagas are the same people, why is the name Nagas not used to designate people of South India also………….

The word 'Dravida' is not an original word. It is the sanskritized form of the word 'Tamil'. The original word 'Tamil' when imported into Sanskrit became 'Damilla' and later on 'Damita' became Dravida. The word Dravida is the name of the language of the people and does not denote the race of the people. The third thing to remember is that Tamil or Dravida was not merely the language of South India but before the Aryans came it was the language of the whole of India, and was spoken from Kashmir to Cape Comorin. In fact, it was the language of the Nagas throughout India. The next thing to note is the contact between the Aryans and the Nagas and the effect it produced on the Nagas and their language.

Strange as it may appear the effect of this contact on the Nagas of North India was quite different from the effect it produced on the Nagas of South India. The Nagas in North India gave up Tamil which was their mother tongue and adopted Sanskrit in its place. The Nagas in South India retained Tamil as their mother tongue and did not adopt Sanskrit the language of the Aryans. If this difference is borne in mind it will help to explain why the name Dravida came to be applied only for the people of South India. The necessity for the application of the name Dravida to the Nagas of Northern India had ceased because they had ceased to speak the Dravida language. But so far as the Nagas of South India are concerned not only the propriety of calling them Dravida had remained in view of their adherence to the Dravida language but the necessity of calling them Dravida had become very urgent in view of their being the only people speaking the Dravida language after the Nagas of North had ceased to use it. This is the real reason why the people of South India have come to be called Dravidians.

The special application of the word Dravida for the people of South India must not, therefore, obscure the fact that the Nagas and Dravidas are the one and the same people. They are only two different names for the same people. Nagas was a racial or cultural name and Dravida was their linguistic name. Thus the Dasas are the same as the Nagas and the Nagas are the same as the Dravidians. In other words what we can say about the races of India is that there have been at the most only two races in the field, the Aryans and the Nagas.

Dr.B.R.Ambedkar


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Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar

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Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar
Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar

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en 
Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (1891 — 1956). Indian jurist and political leader. ~ Biography
es 
Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (1891 — 1956). Jurista y político indio. ~ Biografía
fr 
Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (1891 — 1956). Juriste et homme politique indien. ~ Biographie

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English


B.R. Ambedkar was a man whose work unraveled the unique nature of the master-servant relationship in South Asia.
Dr. Ambedkar was destined to reveal the central mystery of the South Asian social relationship which, has for its grounding a system of human grading or branding based on a classification known as the caste system. From his lifetime until now, the understanding of this issue has spread from small groups of militant intellectuals and activists to one that has spread into mainstream thinking, not only in South Asia but also throughout the world. Mahatma Gandhi spoke of Ambedkar as one of the few who had taken the radical stance of the interpretation of the entire history of India on the basis of caste. However, if that was a radical view then that is no longer the case.

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Today there is almost unanimous acceptance that without paying serious attention to the implication of the system that is called caste, there is hardly any possibility of understanding South Asian society, culture or politics. The same can be said of the understanding of South Asian conflicts which, in recent decades have turned into some of the world's most violence clashes. In the understanding of these clashes insight into the work of Ambedkar could be an enormous resource. In fact, much of the analysis of these clashes and conflicts is poorer for the lack of attention to the central issue of caste and its implications on countries where Indian culture had a foundational influence.


Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar was not only the Dalit Massiha but he was one of the famous leaders of national freedom movement. Social justice and human rights ideals in his practical approach of struggle raised him above most of the leaders at that time. He had a special space in the society. He had multi- dimentional qualities and credit of amazing achievements which made him a great social reformist, philosopher and legend in law affairs etc. His personality and ideology were deeply influenced by Gautam Budh, Sant Kabir and Mahatama Jyotiba Phulle. Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar held a very strong view that the left out tasks which Mahatama Jyotiba Phulle started should be completed. In addition to these influences he was impressed by Western Countries system of development and radical changes happening in those societies. That is why he supported the ideas of- Liberty, equality and brotherhood. Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar wanted to build future Indian society based upon these human values.

Desi Illuminati STAKES highly depend on the assessment of Indian economists that Developing countries, which account for 40 per cent of India's exports, can give a big cushion to country's external trade as they are not as badly hit by the global downturn as the US, Japan and Europe.
Manufacturing sector showed marginal signs of recovery in the second and third quarters of the last fiscal as compared to the

corresponding quarters in 2007-08, says a report by an industry lobby.

A Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)-Ascon survey said five sectors - fertilisers, low and high density polythene, pig iron, steel and mopeds - moved from negative to moderate growth.

However, the year-wise comparison shows the manufacturing sector growth has significantly slowed during 2008-09 as compared to 2007-08, the report released Sunday said.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday acknowledged prices of essential commodities were high but said they would fall because of an

expected bumper food production.

Though the inflation had come down, the prices of essential commodities were high. "The prices will come down since we expect a bumper crop this year", he told a press conference here.

"Our granaries are full and we will end the current year with record food stocks. Foodgrain production, which was only 213 million tonnes in 2003, hit a record of 231 million tonnes in 2007-08," he said.

Singh said his government had initiated various farmer-welfare programmes, including better support prices, and India was now producing bumper crops.

He said the five years of UPA rule had bettered the previous NDA rule on the economic front, saying Indian economy grew at an "unprecedented" growth rate of 8.5 percent during its tenure.

"Over the last five years, our economy has grown at an average rate of about 8.6 percent per year, a growth rate unprecedented in the history of India. In contrast, average growth rate during NDA period was only 5.8 percent. Growth of agriculture had gone up twice", he said.

Depite the global downturn, India's growth will stay above six percent, he said adding India was able to handle the economic downturn much better than most other countries.

Speaking on Centre-state relationship, he said more than Rs 56,000 crore had been allotted to Tamil Nadu during UPA's rule.

With the next government expected to take measures to give a fillip to slowing economy, global rating agency Fitch on Sunday said

expansionary fiscal policies by India to battle downturn may not necessarily lead it to cut its ratings.

"There are counter-cyclical aspects to the expansionary fiscal position that may not necessarily result in a negative rating action," Fitch Head of Asia-Pacific Sovereign Ratings James McCormack told PTI.

The statement assumes significance in the wake of another global rating agency Standard and Poor's downgrading outlook of India's long term credit rating in February on rising fiscal deficit.

McCormack said it is important to remember that fiscal policy is now being considered in the context of global economic slowdown.

Fitch will certainly consider the fiscal policies undertaken by the new government to take a call on reviewing the rating, since public finance pressures were among the primary considerations when the country's local credit rating was placed on negative outlook last year, he added.

Last year, Fitch had cut the outlook to "negative" due to considerable deterioration in the central government's fiscal position, combined with a notable increase in government debt issuance to finance off-budget subsidies.

"Fitch will be focussed more on India's structural fiscal position, and whether the new government intends to restore public finances to a more sustainable path on the medium term," McCormack said.

He said, the agency is waiting for the upcoming report of the 13th Finance Commission to identify structural fiscal priorities.

"These will be very important in assessing the medium-term fiscal outlook," it added.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in his interim Budget speech said that the Finance Commission has been asked to lay down the roadmap for fiscal consolidation.

Fitch said fiscal position is the most significant negative factor from a rating perspective, but the economy is clearly facing other challenges.

Most notably, slower economic growth is proving a challenge, along with the availability of funding for the corporate sector, which had benefited from international capital flows that extended to most emerging markets.

"With the flows having stopped, access to capital may restrict growth further," he said.

India's economic growth slowed down to just 5.3 per cent in the third quarter of last fiscal, after notching more than 7.5 per cent growth in the first two quarters.

To counter the slowdown, the government has provided three stimulus packages by reducing excise duty by six per cent, service tax by two per cent among other things.

This has deteriorated the country's fiscal deficit, with the figures projected to touch six per cent in 2008-09 against earlier estimates of 2.5 per cent.

After S&P downgraded India's long term credit rating outlook, the Finance Ministry asked the agency to explain the rationale behind the downgrade, while pointing out that outlook for other nations which had seen soaring fiscal deficit were left unchanged.

The stock market is likely to climb substantially higher in 2010, if corporate India manages to raise up to $15 billion (about Rs
74,000 crore) over the next few months, a latest Credit Suisse report says.

On the other hand,
The finance ministry wants an independent assessment of the government's flagship social and developmental programmes to ensure

that the stepped-up spending on them is being done in a prudent manner. The evaluation is now considered necessary because official spending on these programmes, notably the rural job guarantee scheme and the rural health mission, is rising.

In Indian context, to fight against untouchablity and for equality of all was a very challenging task. The attitudes of disappointment amongst dalits were very deep rooted because of their social, economical and political exploitation from the centuries together .Because of these considerations, it was very challenging to motivate them to stand up to fight against their exploitation and for their self respect. Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar spent his whole life in this challenging task relentlessly. Dalits as other part of Indian society were themselves divided in to many castes and sub castes because of ignorance, backwardness and given social structure. According to Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar the caste system in India has been a divisive instrument from the very begining . He had a firm view that till this caste system continues, the outcastes liberation is not possible. This was the reason that he started a strong movement against caste system. To fight against the disparities in society and discrimination against dalits, he felt a need of cultural revolution and called the out caste people to come forward, get education, get united and fight against injustice. He also motivated them not to wait for someone to come for their rescue but to fight against this slavery themselves.

The finance ministry has instructed ministries and departments to disclose the impact of the measures taken to stimulate the economy in the upcoming Budget, according to an official communication issued to various government departments. They have been told to include a chapter in the Budget documents specifying the concessions given, in addition to the budgetary provisions, and their impact on the economy.

The government announced two fiscal incentive packages in December 2008 and January 2009, and wants the tax income it lost to be listed as tax expenditure. In early January, the government slashed excise duty to 8% from 12%.

The taxes lost by the government, and the extra spending announced in the last fiscal year, were initially estimated to cost more than Rs 40,000 crore.

The finance ministry had assumed that the money could be partly recovered in this fiscal year as the stimulus package would lead to higher production, leading in turn to greater tax receipts.

The finance ministry has also asked ministries to calculate the cost of service delivery. This assessment will be used to make norms capping the cost of providing various services to the people. The feedback from this assessment will be used to modify various social sector schemes aimed at giving education to all, creation of unskilled rural jobs, providing mid-day meal and drinking water as well as healthcare services in rural areas.

mbedkar be known to the World as an outstanding economist deserving   recognition more than a noble prize in economics.
 Dr. BR Ambedkar was a professional economist and deserved recognition more than Dalit Messiah and author of the constitution of India. Various memoranda and statements that the scholar par at excellence submitted to the Government from time to time are indicative of the fact that he had mastered the subject of economics to a great extent a unique aspect of his scientific free mind.
To save the Indian economy from the fiscal crisis of today caused by the so called global economic crisis, it would be relevant to adopt the canons of public expenditure advocated by Ambedkar. In 1949, while discussing the functions of the Comptroller and Auditor General Ambedkar said that during the framing of our Constitution, that Governments should spend the resources garnered from the public not only according to rules, laws and regulations, but should also see that 'faithfulness, wisdom and Economy' are adhered to in the acts of expenditure by public authorities.
                        The remarkable thing about Ambedkar's canons of public expenditure is that they are ism-neutral. One can follow a policy of a large or small public sector and yet the principles behind these canons are applicable.
                        First, the cannon of faithfulness, Faith in this context as defined by the dictionary a 'duty or commitment to fulfil a trust, promise...' Thus, it is necessary for the Government to be faithful to the original intentions. For example, if a certain sum is allocated to a centre for high education to improve the facilities without specifying the item of expenditure, a really faithful way of spending would be on libraries, laboratories and other items of teaching and research, rather than on frivolous things such as status or imposing buildings.
                        Fidelity to the original intention must be tempered with wisdom, is the second canon of Ambedkar. A policy of the Government when executed may be faithful but may not be wise. While sagacity, prudence and commonsense are the all marks of a just and wise Governments, it should also possess experience and knowledge that can be applied critically and practically in specific areas. In the context of a just utilization of public funds, economic wisdom becomes a paramount necessity.
                        The importance of the third cannon of Economy takes on a special meaning to achieve social well being. The apparent faithfulness to the original intentions and wisdom are not sufficient in themselves for public expenditure. Economy in public expenditure does not simply mean a low level of public spending, but is the intelligent use of funds, so that every paisa fetches the most benefit.
                        These canons of Ambedkar are sufficiently flexible so that expenditure can be related to the state of the Indian economy. Ambedkar emphasized that the expenditure decision should closely relate to the specified objectives and the available resources, besides ensuring economy, efficiency and effectiveness. The allocation of expenditure among competing demands and the manner of utilization fall within the domain of these canons.
                        Ambedkar's canons can be used as a touchstone to see whether a particular item of expenditure is necessary or not. Every single expenditure decision should be assessed in terms of the faithfulness to the will of the people; wisdom as provided by the professionals in the field, coupled with well-considered and honest judgement in execution.
                        Following the canons scrupulously in individual items of expenditure can not always eliminate problems arising out of the broader economic policy pursued by the Government. But they can mitigate the harmful effects of ill-considered policies of the Government at the centre and the state level.
Ambedkar proved to be the father of human resource development in India by virtue of the numerous safeguards incorporated in the Indian Constitution to improve the socio-economic, educational and cultural conditions of the Scheduled Castes He left no stone unturned in his efforts to postulate and pursue social policy that has direct bearing on the advancement of the untouchables. Accordingly, Ambedkar can be described as the architect of human resource development, the scope and significance of that form the core analysis in United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), formulating the case for human development strategy. In fact, Ambedkar's social policy is a forerunner of the contemporary human development school of though in public policy.
                        The human development approach postulates Government intervention and regulation in the development of education, health, nutrition, protection of the environment and the interests of the poor masses and weaker sections.
                        Ambedkar visualized a society where all social barriers between man and man were demolished where man was measured by his worth and not by his birth, and where equality between man and man was vigorously pursued. This meant that income inequalities caused by wealth and caste among the population had to be reduced. He emphasized the imperative necessity of uprooting the caste system, which weakened Indian Society.
                        Ambedkar's prime weapon was arming depressed classes with political power by virtue of the numerous safeguards incorporated in the Indian Constitution to improve their socio-economic, educational and cultural conditions to augment their development from deprivation, social stigma and suffering. The identity and solidarity with which SCs are functioning and participating in the democratic elections is testimony to Ambedkar's intellectual  vision, and the safeguard introduced for securing social justice to the most depressed section of the Indian population. The SCs achieved substantial progress in the sphere of education and representation in public services in free India by virtue of the constitutional safeguards he had proposed.
             Human Development Index (HDI) developed by UNDP since 1990 is an outstanding innovation for measuring the level of human development. It takes into account three basic elements of human well-being; longevity, knowledge and the access of resources required for living measured by life expectancy, adult literacy and mean years of schooling as well as real GDP per capita in purchasing power parity. HDI ranking of India is 127 out of 177 countries in the Human Development Report of 2005. But the achievements of human development over the last six decades reveals outstanding lesson asserting the benevolent role of public policy. High levels of human development can not be achieved at modest income levels unless the Government puts people at the centre of its plans.
                        Although Ambedkar's prime concern was the uplift of the depressed classes, he anticipated the imperative of human development on a wider plane long ago. The current human development tide that endorses public for social development is the fruit of Ambedkar's endeavor.
According to Ambedkar, the caste system is not merely division labour it is also division of labourers. It is a hierarchy in which the labourers are graded one above the other. Those who were at the bottom were known as untouchables and were not allowed to mingle with others and denied basic civil rights. The proactive of untouchability has ruined the nation and the economy as a whole. Ambedkar observed that 'as an economic system, it (the caste system) permits exploitation without obligation. Untouchably is not only a system of unmitigated economic exploitation but it is also a system of uncontrolled economic exploitation.
                        Ambedkar believed that the caste system in India was a major obstacle to economic development. It generally did not allow people to teach professional skills to any other than their own casts members. Even if an individual did possess the skill necessary of a caste lower than his own. In a caste-minded society, there is no willingness on the part of the individuals to seek employment where they may be best suited. This inevitably reduces mobility of labour leading to inefficiency in production, thus impeding economic development.
                        Ambedkar made every possible effort to eradicate untouchability in a very democratic and successful manner. He had also suggested a number of provisions for solving the problems of Indian labourers when appointed the labour member of Viceroy's Executive Committee in 1942, which was found to be a landmark in the history of labour legislation in India.
                        Ambedkar believed that the thrust of strategy for India's economic development should be on eradication of poverty, elimination of inequalities and on ending exploitation of the masses. He accepted the Marxian view that there is exploitation in the world; that the rich exploit the poor; and that the enslavement of the masses by the privileged few, leads to perpetuation of poverty and its attendant suffering. Yet Ambedkar did not sympathize with the Marxist paradigm of development. In his essay 'Buddhism and Communism' Ambedkar expressed his view on communism. Unlike Marx, he did not accept economic relationships as the be-all and end-all of human life, and rejected the economic motive as the driving power behind all human activity. He emphasized economic, the social, religious and political dimensions of exploitation. Indeed, social and religious exploitation is no less oppressive than the economic exploitation in India. Ambedkar believed that communism stands for revolution and not for reformation. Communism advocates revolutionary methods for overcoming dictatorship, which he disliked, and believed those constitutional provisions and democratic means should be relied upon for the desired reformation. He rejected the totalitarian approach of Marxian progress, which thinks the State is a temporary institution that will 'wither away' in course of time. He believed in a classless society but not in a stateless society. He maintained that the State would continue to exist as long as human society survived. Indeed , in his book States and Minorities, he has entrusted the share with 'an obligation to plan the economic life of the people on line which will lead to highest point of productivity without closing every avenue to private enterprise, and also provide for equitable distribution of wealth. Ambedkar has advocated State ownership of agricultural land with democratic collectivized methods of cultivation and limited control of industries (i.e. heavy industries and large public utilities). Ambedkar perceived an active but well-defined role for the State in the economic life of the country. He did not favour the State imposition of arbitrary restraint on the economic processes.
Thus, Ambedkar's economic ideas are of great use for our present economy of India capable of facing any kind of global economic crisis. We should adopt and execute his economic ideas so that we may enjoy a prosperous future in all times to come. Let Ambedkar is known to the World as an outstanding economist deserving   recognition more than a noble prize in economics.


Meanwhile,Sensex may have gained 58% from its one-year low but did you know that over 400 companies have more than doubled their share prices from
BSE

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one-year lows? The country's 10 most valued firms added over Rs 40,000 crore to their market capitalisations last week, with Reliance Industries

accounting for over one-third of the total gain.

Though , Investor confidence is likely to be put to test in the forthcoming week as India awaits its leader. Market analysts are keeping their fingers crossed and hoping for a stable government as a fractured verdict could be a major spoilsport. Market watchers are of the opinion that as long as BJP or a Congress-led alliance is in power, investors
may take comfort with regard to stability as well as policies. However, the emergence of the Third Front could dent investor confidence. Under such a scenario, it is likely that most reforms will be stalled, and many fear a wave of populist spending.


As many as 20 largecaps such as RIL, SAIL, M&M , Sterlite, ICICI Bank and 30 mid-caps like Sesa Goa, Dish TV, Suzlon, Pantaloon and Unitech are among the 400-odd stocks which have given over 100% returns, if you would had bought them at their lows, an analysis of CMIE data shows.

Out of the 2600-odd stocks listed on the BSE and NSE, 405 stocks have at least doubled their values from their 365-day lows touched in October last year. Simply put, one out every six stocks has gained over 100% from their one-year bottom.

When Sensex dipped to 7,697 on October 27 last year, many stocks such as Jindal Steel and Power crashed to their lows as investor sentiment went for a toss.

However, the rise has been equally impressive with sensex now trading above the 12,000 mark. Shares of Jindal Steel, after languishing at Rs 517 on October 27, 2008, is now close to Rs 1,675 — tripling in value in a matter of just seven months.
The 10 most valued firms added Rs 41,538 crore to their valuation last week, taking the total market capitalisation of the elite club to Rs 12,89,157 crore at the end of trade on Friday.

Last week, valuation of the club, comprising four private and six public sector entities, was at Rs 12,47,619 crore.

Corporate behemoth RIL added Rs 14,841 crore to its market cap last week, taking its valuation to Rs 2,98,549 crore. The valuation of the Mukesh Ambani-led firm was at Rs 2,83,709 crore a week ago. Shares of RIL surged over five per cent to end at Rs 1,897 on the Bombay Stock Exchange last week.

However, amid overall gain in the broader market, three firms, NTPC, BHEL and ITC, lost a combined Rs 777 crore in a week.At the end of Friday's trade, power utility NTPC witnessed an erosion of Rs 289 crore from its valuation to Rs 1,56,499 crore. BHEL lost Rs 206 crore and FMCG major ITC Rs 283 crore.

he tracing of many of the existing violent conflicts in South Asia would clearly demonstrate that one of the most important contributory factors that continue to contribute to these conflicts is the culturally inherited habits of disproportionate and collective punishment towards the weaker sections of society. Many conflicts which have today blown up into so much violence that they have come to the notice of the global community are often the result of a limited protest of one or another weaker group within society, protesting on some issue and being subjected to disproportionate and collective punishment. The use of police fire power against small groups engaged in protests and the use of state sponsored riots to retaliate against some violent act done by a militant group has later developed into the type of crises that has undermined the stability of entire nations.

The use of disproportionate and collective punishment by those in power leads the more self-conscious sections among the protestors to take precautions for their security by adopting methodologies that can equal the ways of disproportionate and collective punishment of their opponents. In this way a conflict is magnified from its very inception because of the fear of annihilation by such disproportionate and collective punishment.

In this kind of conflict those who represent the state develop the ideology of the total annihilation of the opponent. In preparation for this the protestors also acquire a similar mentality and prepare themselves for a kind of battle which has, for its aim, the annihilation of the state counterparts.

Such conflicts defy any form of resolution by way of agreements arrived at on the basis of the mutual understanding of each other's legitimate positions. Even the very thought of a dialogue or compromise does not enter into a mindset that is full of fear of disproportionate and collective punishment.

The state, when faced with a conflict abandons the rule of law rapidly. The concept of the rule of law is based on the idea of proportionality of punishment to the offense and the total rejection of collective punishment. Within the rule of law context offenders are always individuals and it is the guilt or otherwise of the individual that the judicial system deals with. By this means the rule of law system when properly used prevents the conflicts degenerating into collective conflicts. When the state abandons the rule of law and goes back to the cultural habits of trying to deal with opponents with ideologies of annihilation there is no room for any mediators to deal with the parties to the conflict with a view to bring about a rational discourse leading to settlements which both sides can accept as legitimate.

While almost all leaders of the independence movements in South Asian countries attempt to romanticise and glorify the cultural traditions of their countries, B.R. Ambedkar alone raised the issue of the internal contradictions which were inherent within all cultural traditions which had the Indian culture as its core by pointing to the nature of the master-servant relationship within this setup rooted in the organisation of caste. By raising this issue he provided the basis for the understanding of conflicts in the post independence societies of South Asia. His life and work and the enormous amount of writings that he left behind remain a guide to the understanding of the type of conflicts that many people have thought of as defying any kind of rational understanding.


Economic Times reports:

CHA Karpe, a wealth manager in Mumbai, has her hands full these days. Her clients, all high net worth individuals, are consulting her more often than usual. The problem is wealth. Karpe's job is to find ways to help them preserve money in these testing times.

These people seem to have nothing to be worried about as their net worths range between Rs 10 crore and Rs 200 crore. And a small bump in the stock markets shouldn't propel them to sell their Rolls Royce or change their luxurious lifestyle.

Yet her clients are concerned, she says, as they are finding it difficult to come to terms with the sudden erosion in notional wealth. For them, the crisis was first disbelief, then reconciliation and now they are trying to understand how they can move forward.

As per financial service major Credit Suisse's India market strategy report, a host of companies, including Aditya Bira Nuvo, Bajaj Hindusthan, Adani Power, are planning to tap the capital markets in the coming months through various routes including private placement
and preferential allotments.

"If Indian companies succeed in raising $10-15 billion over the next few months, even if equity markets were to reverse later in the year on global factors or on domestic policy tightening, corporate fundamentals could be on the way for market to be substantially higher in 2010," Credit Suisse research analyst Nilesh Jasani said in a report.

The report advised investors, who are confident of the political outcome and global rally, to pick from the list of companies about to finish funding.


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"Some of those who need money are likely to be quicker, more efficient and less valuation demanding than others. Those who succeed will have their long-term business fundamentals changed even if markets were to reverse again," it added.

Meanwhile, as per general assumptions if too many firms issue equities to raise money in a roaring stock market, at some point it may stop going up and might even come down.

This argument is generally seen as valid with hindsight but it is never easy to forecast how much a rising market would be able to absorb in new shares before getting tired, Jasani added.

The report pointed out that it believes that Indian fundamental story in 2008 got derailed because highly geared and negative cash flow business groups could no longer raise money in capital markets.

The companies are planning to raise funds up to Rs 29,547 crore (about $6 billion) from capital markets in the coming months. According to reports, the companies planning to raise funds include Aditya Birla Nuvo for its life insurance business (Rs 150 crore), Bajaj Hindusthan (Rs 1,500 crore), GMR Infra (Rs 3000 crore through private equity route).

Other firms include -- Indiabulls Real Estate whose board has approved a plan to raise Rs 3,000 crore through Qualified Institutional Placement of securities, Pantaloon Retail to mop up Rs 1,500 crore through a mix of preferential allotment of shares to promoters and PE funding.

Further, Adani Power has recently refiled the draft prospectus for an initial public offer with the market regulator SEBI.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Markets/Analysis/India-Incs-fund-raising-may-prop-up-stock-market-in-2010/articleshow/4499544.cms


What are the HARD facts about UNREGULATED INDIAN Economy and INFLATEDSatyam Asatyam FUNDAMENTALS and all the Hype about Growth and Development, let us see!



Work-related ailments like heart diseases, strokes and diabetes will likely cost India's exchequer around $160 billion between

2009-15, an industry lobby study has said.

The paper, jointly prepared by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) and auditing major PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), said: "Due to tensions arising out of transitional liberalisation and current working environment in private and government sectors, the number of people with hypertension in India is expected to see a quantum leap of over 135 million."

Though India is a fast-developing country, it is yet to create facilities to mitigate tension and high blood pressure from work-related stress, which often leads to cardiovascular diseases, said Assocham president Sajjan Jindal in the report.

According to the paper, the number of deaths from chronic diseases in India would exceed seven million by 2015.

The country's national income is hard hit as it does not have adequate health centres even for routine check-ups. On the other side, most of the employers are under huge pressure at their work places and are working over-time to retain their jobs, Jindal said.

This breeds tension and hypertension that cause heart attacks, he added.

According to the report, to prevent chronic diseases, Indians should reduce tobacco intake, eat healthier diet and exercise regularly.

India is the world's second largest consumer of tobacco.

According to government estimates, by 2020, chronic diseases would be the major reason for almost 66 percent of the deaths.

India's total health care expense is less than 3 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP), lower than the world average of 9 percent, Assocham added.

India runs huge trade gap despite anti-dumping steps

NEW DELHI: Swift rise in the measures to stop dumping of goods did not help India contain its imports for the larger part of fiscal 2008-09 that

ended with a whopping USD 119-billion trade deficit for the country.

While over 14 per cent expansion in imports in the midst of global downturn would show India as one of the most liberal countries for inward trade, New Delhi topping the table of initiation of anti-dumping measures in the second-half of calendar 2008 paradoxically conveys an opposite impression.

India initiated the highest number of anti-dumping investigations at 42, between July and December, 2008, followed by Brazil and China, according to a WTO report.

Against USD 168 billion exports, imports went up to USD 287.75 billion for the financial year 2008-09.

"This (WTO report) is just a compilation. It does not mean that India is adopting protectionist postures," a FICCI official, dealing with international trade, said.

He said the number of anti-dumping investigations increased, especially after October, when countries like China, with global manufacturing capacity, found demand recession in the US and Europe and were looking for an alternative market.

RBI should come out with norms for verifying bank a/cs: SFIO

NEW DELHI: The Serious Fraud Investigation Office in its report on the Satyam fraud has suggested that the RBI should come out with definite

guidelines for banks to issue balance confirmation certificates (BCC), to help auditors verify company accounts.


"(The) RBI may examine this (the procedure for issuing BCC) and issue necessary guidelines to ensure that forged balance confirmation certificates are not used for perpetration of fraud," the investigation arm of the Corporate Affairs Ministry said.


In case of Satyam, the statutory auditor Price Waterhouse relied on forged balance confirmation certificates produced by the Satyam management to certify accounts of the IT company.


The SFIO report further added that the auditors did not make any enquiry to ascertain the factual position on outstanding balance in current accounts and fixed deposits as required under ICAI directives.


"The... lapse on the part of statutory auditors has enabled the Satyam executives to perpetrate a massive fraud, as it was noticed that... many of the balance confirmation certificates were fake and forged," the report said.


Satyam, under disgraced founder B Ramalinga Raju, relied on forged fixed deposit receipts and bank accounts to present a rosy picture of the company. The company even paid taxes on interest on non-existing fixed deposits.


The banks, SFIO said, were not aware of the forgery till reference was made by the investigating agency seeking the veracity of the accounts.


In order to prevent such frauds in future, SFIO suggested that each BCC should be issued by banks only after receiving a written request and should also contain a serial number.


In respect of fixed deposit receipts, SFIO said FDR number and the date of issue should be specially mentioned.


In addition, it said, RBI should make it mandatory for issuing banks to retain a copy of the certificate for atleast 10 years.


Tatas, SBI, Infosys among world's top 50 reputed firms

9 May 2009, 1808 hrs IST, IANS
ASHINGTON: The Tata Group, State Bank of India (SBI) and Infosys Technologies are among 17 Indian firms that figure among the top 50 in a list
tata-infy.jpg

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of the world's 200 most reputable companies.

With a pulse score of 80.89 on a scale of 0-100, the US-based Reputation Institute ranked the Tata Group 11th above global giants like Google, Microsoft, General electric, Toyota, Coca-Cola, Intel and Unilever.

Italy-based chocolate producer Ferrero was ranked as the most reputable company on the planet right now. With its pulse score moving from 83.52 last year up to 85.17, Ferrero came up from fourth place last year to first, more than a full point ahead of second ranked IKEA.

"However it is the people of India who love their companies the best," noted US business magazine Forbes. "Of India's 27 corporations ranked by the institute, 24 (89 percent) placed above the average. Seventeen of them landed in the top third of the list."

The Reputation Institute's global pulse of 600 companies is a measure of corporate reputation calculated by averaging perceptions of four indicators, trust, esteem, admiration and good feeling, obtained from a representative sample of at least 100 respondents in the companies' home countries.


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SBI, India's largest bank, is ranked 29th with a score of 78.11. India's second largest software exporter Infosys is at 39th, with a pulse score of 77.45.

Larsen & Toubro comes next at 47th position with a pulse score of 76.58, while India's largest carmaker Maruti Suzki has been ranked 49th with a pulse score of of 76.26.

Other Indian firms in the top 200 are: Hindustan Unilever (69 - 74.99); ITC Ltd (95 - 73.50); Canara Bank (102- 73.34); Hindustan Petroleum (111 - 73.08); Indian Oil (112 - 73.01); Wipro (116 - 72.77); Mahindra & Mahindra (137 - 71.61); Bharti Airtel (163 - 70.32); Bank of Baroda(174 -- 69.81); Bharat Petroleum(175 - 69.79) and Punjab National Bank (177- 69.67.)

Johnson & Johnson, which placed first in the US for reputation, lands third globally. Kraft Foods places eighth, making the US one of only two countries with two businesses in the global top 10. Brazil is the other. Its Petrobras and Sadia landed fourth and fifth respectively.

Brazil had the second highest percentage of its participating companies ranked above the global average at 76 percent, while 62 percent of American companies received pulse scores above the average.




Some biggies on list of LGT Bank account holders

10 May 2009, 0033 hrs IST, Shantanu Nandan Sharma, ET Bureau
EW DELHI: A few well-known industrialists, a couple of small-time politicians and a large number of not-so-prominent traders and businessmen

figure in the list of Indian account holders in Liechtenstein's LGT Bank that is in the government's possession, a senior finance ministry official told SundayET.

Whereas India has received the list of its nationals with bank accounts in Lechtenstein, a small German-speaking monarchy bordering Switzerland and Austria, it is yet to receive details of people with large deposits in Swiss banks because of a bilateral tax pact.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has started investigating whether there is any case of tax evasion against those with large cash deposits in LGT Bank, the official said requesting anonymity. The German government on March 18 this year passed on a disc to Indian authorities related to Lechtenstein, but the finance ministry has refused to divulge its details.

The list of Indian account holders is said to contain around 50 names, although two ministry officials, with whom SundayET had separate meetings, did not confirm the figure. "We have decided to maintain strict confidentiality on details of the CD that Germany has given it to us," a CBDT official said.

Another finance ministry official who had previewed the list said may be traders and businessmen who had opened accounts wanted to evade taxes.

No top Indian politicians figured in the list, but a few well-known names of India Inc and a couple of small-time politicians were listed, the official said.

The principal opposition party, the BJP, has alleged that the government hsd made no serious attempt to bring back billions of dollars stashed away in secret Swiss bank accounts although the government claimed that it has been seriously pursuing the matter.

The Centre told the Supreme Court on May 2 that it had approached the Swiss government to renegotiate the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) to ensure exchange of information on bank accounts of Indians.

In a separate development, the income-tax department has raised a tax demand of Rs 71,000 crore on a Pune-based stud farm owner Hasan Ali Khan and others after his Swiss bank account details were allegedly recovered from a laptop in Khan's house.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News-By-Company/Corporate-Trends/Some-biggies-on-list-of-LGT-Bank-account-holders/articleshow/4504214.cms

Tata Sons joins global firms against corruption

9 May 2009, 1042 hrs IST, IANS
NITED NATIONS: Chief executives from some of the world's leading companies, including Tata Sons of India, have thrown their support behind a

United Nations treaty aimed at combating corruption.

In a letter addressed to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the CEOs noted that the UN Convention against Corruption - signed by 140 countries and ratified by 136 to date - holds "the promise of curbing corruption and creates a level playing field for all participants in the global economy."

The letter characterised the Convention as "an essential instrument in the fight against corruption," which is crucial in the current period of financial and economic turmoil to prevent an "erosion of ethical standards that will be hard to reverse."

They also underscored the importance for the Conference of States Parties to the Convention, held in Doha in November, to establish an effective implementation review mechanism. "Hoping that the Convention's measures will work, without follow-up reviews, would be a dangerous mistake," wrote the CEOs.

"The adoption of a rigorous implementation review mechanism will send a very positive message to international business," read the letter.

Signatories included the CEOs of Fuji Xerox of Japan, General Electric Company of the US, IKEA of Sweden, Royal Dutch Shell of the Netherlands, Sinosteel Corporation of China, and Zurich Financial Group of Switzerland.

The letter was written at the invitation of the four global, multi-industry, anti-corruption initiatives addressing the corporate sector: the International Chamber of Commerce, Transparency International, the UN Global Compact and the World Economic Forum Partnering Against Corruption Initiative (PACI).

Education recession: 57% flunk PU exam

10 May 2009, 0955 hrs IST, TNN
BANGALORE: The wake-up couldn't have been more rude. Only 43.34% students have cleared the II PU exam held in April. That's a failure of nearly

57% and should give authorities a lot to worry about.

Sadly, this has been the trend in recent years. It's only in 2005 and 2006 that the results crossed 50%. In 2008, the results dipped by 9%. This year, the increase is rather negligible — 2.03%. Of the 4.26 lakh freshers who took the exam, just 2.17 lakh cleared it, a mere 50.88%.

Bangalore boy Harsha N Bhushan of Sri Bhagawan Mahaveer Jain College has topped the Science stream by scoring 98.17%. The Arts topper Shruthi S K from Davanagere has scored 94%. The Commerce topper is from Udupi district, Swathi S with a stunning 98.5%.

Urban students fared better than their rural counterparts . While Bangalore South recorded 62.01% to be at fourth position, North recorded 61.53%. Students in Rural performed badly at 47.04%. While 56.11% girls (freshers) cleared the exam, only 45.57% boys passed.

Not a single student passed in 74 colleges. Surprisingly , the numbers are more in private unaided colleges.
"We are not happy with the pass percentage. However, even if it is 2% there has been some progress compared to last year's results' ' is all PU commissioner S G Hegde said.

Educationists said there is more than one reason for the poor pass percentage, the primary one being ensuring quality control. Since the nofail policy is in place in primary schools to ensure that children do not drop out of school due to bad performance , at the higher level, there ought to be stringent evaluation methods.


Pink slips, but cos still spend more on salary

Companies like Tech Mahindra, HCL, Wipro, TCS, Pfizer, NTBC, Geojit Finance pay more in January-March.

Desperation often sinks high-income job seekers

Job seekers looking for six-figure salaries are often so worried about their prospects that they ruin their chances with silly mistakes.

Jobs at risk in Britain as steel plant faces closure: Corus

Nearly 2,000 jobs are at risk at one of Britain's biggest steel plants after four major international buyers pulled out of a contract, owners Corus said on Friday.

Layoffs might ease, but firms in no mood to hire

Cos will have little appetite to ramp up hiring until they feel the economy is truly out of the woods & a recovery is firmly rooted.

India Inc to beat slump with 7-8% salary hike

Hewitt, Hay Group & Watson Wyatt predict high single digit salary hike.

Recession effect: UK cuts jobs for foreign workers

British govt has cut the number and categories of jobs available for migrants from outside the EU, including from India.

India Inc freezes hiring ; no layoffs: PwC

Most Indian cos have frozen their hiring plans for the short term, even as majority of them still rule out layoffs.

India Inc may hike salaries by 6-8% in 2009: Mercer

FMCG and infrastructure are expected to get the highest hikes.

Companies back on the hunt, rev up hiring in April

April seems to have activated the hiring process in the economy after a dismal quarter that witnessed a proliferation of pay cuts and pink slips.

KPIT freezes new recruitments, halves variable pay

Mid-size IT firm KPIT Cummins Infosystem has frozen fresh recruitments for next three-four quarters.

MBAs face dismal job market

Salaries are down by 25%, international offers have dried up, and at some top business schools nearly half the graduates can't find jobs.

Reliance Money to sack about 300 employees

The total workforce of Reliance Money across all its verticals, including broking, money transfer and gold coins, is over 2,000 employees.

IT services may see over one lakh layoffs by Sep

The Indian IT services sector may see up to five per cent layoffs -- amounting to more than one lakh job cuts.

India Inc to offer 7% pay hike this year

While FMCG and pharma sectors are more robust in terms of salary hikes, the likes of banking, IT and auto are sharply reducing their increments.

Watch out for a sudden online UK job offer

Unsuspecting Indian engineering grad are falling prey to new racket offering jobs in UK.

 
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Sanjay Aggarwal, CEO, SpiceJet

Sanjay Aggarwal, CEO, SpiceJet


Y V Reddy, former RBI governor

Y V Reddy, former RBI governor


Moon B Shin, managing director, LG Mobile's

Moon B Shin, managing director, LG Mobile's


Richard Boucher, US asst secretary of state, south and central Asian affairs

Richard Boucher, US asst secretary of state, south and central Asian affairs


Sanjay Kapoor, Deputy CEO, Bharti Airtel

Sanjay Kapoor, Deputy CEO, Bharti Airtel


Chanda Kochhar, MD and CEO, ICICI Bank

Chanda Kochhar, MD and CEO, ICICI Bank


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http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4505113.cms

Liquidity drives market rally this time

5 May 2009, 1317 hrs IST, Vijay Gurav, ET Bureau
MUMBAI: It was around the same time in 2006 when the Sensex had touched the 12,000-mark for the first time in its history. And now, it's back to
BSE

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the same level again, albeit after witnessing a roller-coaster ride in the past three years. The mood is not euphoric as it was in 2006. Quite understandable, given that the index is still 42% away from its record high seen at the start of 2008.

Yet, the pace and timing of the recent rally have taken everybody by surprise. On Monday, the Sensex climbed 732 points, or 6.4%, to close at 12,135, recording a 1,133-point jump in just two sessions. The rally was much sharper than in 2006 when it took 16 trading sessions for the index to move from 11K to 12K.

Three years ago, the move to 12,000 was fuelled by the announcement of strong quarterly numbers by corporates. This time around, corporate numbers have been disappointing, but strong liquidity flows have more than compensated for it. According to BSE's provisional data, FIIs were net-buyers for Rs 1,417 crore on Monday. Since mid-March, these players have net-bought shares worth $2 billion.

"It's a liquidity-driven rally. We have already seen most of the worst and we hope there will be a gradual improvement in fundamentals from hereon. There had been huge withdrawals of foreign money, but that seems to have stopped now," said Centrum Broking MD Devesh Kumar. He, however, cautions investors that there will be a major correction before a new government is formed.

The next keenly-awaited event is the outcome of the general elections. While it is widely felt that either the UPA or the NDA would form the government with the help of their respective allies, brokers feel any possibility outside of this would not augur well for the market.


Also Read
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The 2006 rally had also some element of elections in it. The Sensex had moved up from 11,079 on March 27 to 12,040 on April 20, 2006, ahead of assembly elections in five states which ended on May 8. A few key factors that kept the mood upbeat then were robust Q4 earnings numbers, Infosys' better-than-expected guidance, RBI's decision to keep short-term rates unchanged and the rally in metal prices.

There has been some participation of retail investors in the current market. "Though a bit cautious initially, retail investors have been gradually entering the market after the Sensex crossed 10,000.

Some of them would be looking to recoup last year's losses, before the market heads for one more round of correction," says Alok Churiwala, director of Churiwala Securities. Reflecting retail presence in the market, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rose 3.9% and 3.6%, respectively on Monday.


http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Market-Analysis/Liquidity-drives-market-rally-this-time/articleshow/4484450.cms

Worst is over for Indian economy: SBI chief

9 May 2009, 2135 hrs IST, IANS

OLKATA: The worst is over for the Indian economy and credit has again started flowing into key sectors, O P Bhatt, chairman of the country's

largest lender State Bank of India (SBI), said here Saturday.

'The worst is over for the economy. Auto and housing loans have started picking up already,' Bhatt told reporters after releasing the bank's financial results.

SBI, which accounts for about 25 percent of all loans and deposits in the country, has posted a net profit of Rs 9,121 crore for 2008-09 as against Rs 6,729 crore the year before, a rise of 35.5 per cent.

'Net profit for the fourth quarter (January-March) of 2008-09 increased 45.62 per cent to Rs 2,742 crore from Rs 1,883 crore in the corresponding quarter of 2007-08,' Bhatt said.

On the overseas operations of the bank, he said SBI would concentrate on 'consolidating the existing business network'. The bank is present in 33 countries.

It has plans to increase its Singapore operations from the present five branches to 12 this year and to 20 next fiscal.

Asked about its plans of entering the general insurance business
, Bhatt said: 'We hope to start it anytime within this calendar year or latest by this fiscal end. We are yet to receive some final approvals.'

The net non-performing assets (NPAs) ratio of SBI for 2008-09 stood at 1.76 per cent, compared to 1.78 per cent in 2007-08. The total amount restructured during the year was Rs.8,310 crore.

The capital adequacy ratio of the bank is above 14 per cent.

SBI's total income for the fiscal rose 33 percent to Rs 76,479.2 crore from the previous year's Rs 57,645.2 crore.

Consolidated net profit was at Rs.10,955.2 crore, a 22 percent increase from Rs.8,960.6 crore in 2007-08.

The bank declared a 290 percent dividend at Rs.29 per share for fiscal 2008-09 that ended March 31.

Ambedkar

Ambedkar Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar was born on 14th April, 1891. He was born in Central India as the fourteenth child to parents who belonged to the very lowest caste of Hindu society who are known as the dalits or untouchables. In 1908, Ambedkar passed the Matriculation exam from Bombay University. After graduating from Elfinstone College, Bombay in 1912, he joined Columbia University where he was awarded Ph.D for a thesis which he published in book form as "The Evolution of Provincial Finance in British India". Later he joined the London School of Economics and obtained a degree of D.Sc for his thesis, "The Problem of the Rupee". He became a Professor of Political Economy in the Sydenham College of Commerce and Economics, Bombay in 1918.

In 1920, he started a Marathi Weekly paper called 'Mooknayak' to champion the cause of the depressed classes. He attended the depressed classes Conference on March the same year, under the Presidency of Chatrapati Sahu Maharaj at Kolhapur. He later resigned Professorship at Sydenham College to resume his studies in London. He returned to India on April 1923 and started to practice in the Bombay High Court. He also attended the three Round Table Conferences that were held in London to enable representatives of the various Indian communities and the three British Political parties to consider proposals for the future constitution of India. He founded the 'Bahishkrit Hitkarini Sabha' on July 20, 1924 for the upliftment of the depressed classes. The aims of the Sabha were Educate, Agitate, and Organise.

He opened a hostel for untouchable students at Barshi. He was nominated as a member of the Bombay Legislative Council in 1926. He started Satyagraha at Mahad, a place in Kolaba district to secure to the untouchables the Right of access to the Chavdar Tank. He also started Satyagraha at Kalram Temple, Nasik to secure the Right of entry into the temple by the untouchables.

On September 1932, he signed the Poona Pact with M.K.Gandhi giving up the separate electorates granted to the depressed classes by Ramsay MacDonald's communal Award, and instead accepting representation through Joint Electorates which greatly increased the number of reserved seats. By signing this Pact, Ambedkar marked his emergence as the most influential leader of the untouchables. From 1932-34, he became a member of joint parliamentary committee on the Indian Constitutional Reform.

A historical Yeola Conversion Conference was held under the Presidentship of Dr.Ambedkar on Oct 13th, 1935. There he exhorted the depressed classes to leave Hinduism and embrace an other religion. He declared: 'I was born as a Hindu but I will not die as a Hindu'. These activities made him unpopular in the mainstream Hindu caste opinion. He was invited by the Jat Pat Todak Mandal of Lahore to preside over the conference. Dr. Ambedkar prepared his historical speech- 'The Annihilation of Caste'. But the conference was cancelled by the Mandal on the ground that Dr. Ambedkar's thoughts were revolutionary. Finally, he refused to preside and published his speech in book form in 1937.

Ambedkar founded the Independent Labor Party and took part in the provincial elections that were held under the Government of India Act, 1935. With the outbreak of World War in 1939, Ambedkar regarded the Nazi ideology as a direct threat to the liberties of the Indian people. In 1941, he was appointed to the Defence Advisory Committee and in the following year joined the Viceroy's Executive Council as Labour Member. During the same period, he transformed the Independent Labor Party into the All-India Scheduled Caste Federation.

In 1938, the Congress party introduced a bill making a change in the name of untouchables. i.e. they would be called Harijans meaning Sons of God. Dr. Ambedkar criticized the bill, as in his opinion the change of name would make no real change in their conditions. Dr. Ambedkar and Bhaurav Gaikwad protested against the use of the term Harijans in legal matters. In 1947 Aug 15 India obtained her Independence. Dr. Ambedkar was elected to the constitution assembly by the Bombay Legislature Congress Party. He joined Nehru's cabinet. He became the First Law Minister of Independent India. The Constitution Assembly appointed him to the drafting committee, which elected him as a Chairman on 29th August 1947. He completed the Draft Constitution of Indian Republic by Feb 1948. The Constituent Assembly adopted Article 17 of the Constitution for the abolition of Untouchability.

On Sept 9 1951, he resigned from the Nehru cabinet because of the withdrawal of its support to the Hindu Code Bill. The Untouchability Bill was introduced in the Parliament in the Nehru Government in 1953.

Later in his life he embraced Buddhism as he felt it as the best religion which does not consider Untouchability. In 1950, he visited Sri Lanka where he addressed a meeting of the World Fellowship of Buddhists. In 1951 he wrote an article defending the Buddha against the charge that he has been responsible for the decrease in the women's status in ancient India. The same year, he compiled the 'Baudha Upasana Patha', which is a small collection of Buddhist devotional texts.

In 1955 he founded the Buddhist Society of India and installed a image of Buddha in a temple near Poona. Addressing the thousands of Untouchables who had assembled for the occasion, he declared that henceforth he would devote himself to the propagation of Buddhism in India.

Ambedkar died on 6 December 1956. He was cremated at Dadar Chawpatti- which is now known as Chaitya Bhoomi Dadar in Bombay. His birth date is now a public holiday in India known as Ambedkar Jayanti. As a sign of respect, many Indians use the title 'Babasaheb' infront of his name. Bharat Ratna Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar was a champion of the depressed classes. Being himself one of them and a mass orator, he roused his followers to stand up for their human rights. He was a veritable phenomenon in the 20th century. There may scarcely be a parallel indeed in the annals of human history to the saga of struggle his life represented. Only the concerted struggle of many committed people can restore true Ambedkar to his people.

Few other important writings of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar:

1. Administration and Finance of the East India Company
2. Lectures on Indian Constitution
3. Mr. Gandhi and the Emancipation of the untouchables
4. Communal Deadlock and a way to solve it.
5. Buddha and his Dhamma

Some of the Important Quotations of the famous Orator:

1.'Men are mortal. So are ideas. An idea needs propagation as much as a plant needs watering. Otherwise both will wither and die'
2.'Untouchability shuts all doors of opportunities for betterment in life for untouchables. It does not offer an untouchable any opportunity to move freely in society; it compels him to live in dungeons and seclusion; it prevents him from educating himself and following a profession of his choice'.
3.'Everyman must have a philosophy of life, for everyone must have a standard by which to measure his conduct. And philosophy is nothing but a standard by which to measure'.
4.'Unlike a drop of water which loses his identity when it joins the ocean, man does not lose his being in the society in which he lives. Man's life is independent. He is born not for the development of the society alone, but for the development of his self'.
5.'Freedom of mind is the real freedom. A person, whose mind is not free though he may not be in chains, is a slave, not a free man. One whose mind is not free though alive, is no better than dead. Freedom of mind is the proof of one's existence'.

Compiled By: - Kalapala Hima Deepthi.

http://www.ceeby.com/people/ambedkar.cfm



mbedkar's Contributions to Indian Economics

24Mar07

"Earlier I remarked that it was unfortunate for the economics profession that Ambedkar decided to 'changeover from economics to law and politics' as he remarked in the preface of the Indian edition of The Problem of the Rupee in 1947″, says Mr. S. Ambirajan

I am deeply touched by the honour bestowed upon me by the University of Madras to give the Ambedkar Memorial Lecture. I must at once state that I accepted this invitation only after considerable hesitation because I am by no means an expert on Ambedkar's life, politics, legal and social writings, as well as his brilliant if chequered, career. However I have had some acquaintance with his writings in economics, and it is my intention to highlight a few aspects of his contributions to the study of Indian economics. Before I proceed, I wish to remark on one aspect of Ambedkar's present status with which many of you may not agree. I am somewhat distressed to see that he is portrayed as a leader of the 'dalit' community and nothing else. Partly it is the fault of the Indian political leadership in the post-independent era. It succeeded in its effort to marginalise him politically. But equally it is the fault of the community itself for having projected him exclusively as its own leader. This led to the repercussion of other much inferior people propelled as leaders of other communities, and the result was that Ambedkar got equated on a politico-intellectual plane with regional pygmies devoid of any significant national presence. It is my conviction that in reality we have had only two major personalities who could be considered the founding fathers of modern India. Vallabhbhai Patel unified and organised whatever bits and pieces left of a brutally partitioned geographical entity into a nation state. Ambedkar provided the cementing framework in the form of a Constitution that gave the newly born state a measure of feasibility and stability. All the remaining leaders were mere bit-players in this great story of the building of our sovereign democratic republic. I may be wrong, but there is enough ground for suspicion that the present Indian political class which seeks to honour Ambedkar by awarding posthumous titles, instituting fellowships and other memorials, is doing all this, not for genuinely honouring the departed leader but with the very utilitarian-selfish motive of securing the votes of those in whom he tried to instill a sense of self-respect. I must also make another melancholy reflection that in these days when the minority communities are claiming affinity with dalits – no doubt with the intention of strengthening their electoral clout – it would be worthwhile to remember that they treated dalits as no better than the caste Hindus. Ambedkar wrote of his experiences: Although on conversion to Christianity, the husband had become liberal in thought "the wife had remained orthodox in her ways and would not have consented to harbour an untouchable in her house…I learnt that a person who is an untouchable to a Hindu is also an untouchable to a Parsi…a person who is an untouchable to a Hindu is also an untouchable to a Mohammedan" (XII, 677, 678, 685). There must be something in the Indian soil and ethos that despite the lofty ideals of all religions, in the social and human sphere, much barbarism prevails.

While Ambedkar achieved great things in life, especially in the national-political arena, it is a matter of regret that he did not pursue economics which was his main interest during his early career. Ambedkar was among the first set of Indians who were trained in economics systematically and practised it professionally. India has had a hoary tradition of economic studies in ancient times as classics like Arthasastra, Sukraniti, and Tirukkural will attest. However the study of economics untainted by these texts and receiving its inspiration from the largely western (Judeo-Grecian-enlightenment) tradition for analytic study began in the middle of the 19th century. Those who studied economics and wrote economic treatises were not strictly speaking professional economists. They used economics as a political tool. Thus the distinct contributions of Dadabhai Naoroji, Mahadev Govinda Ranade, G V Joshi and numerous other thinker-activists remain polemical writings notwithstanding solid and substantial analytical content. With the 20th century dawning, and universities coming to be established, a professional academic economic community began to evolve. A number of Indians went abroad during the first quarter of this century to get advanced training in the discipline of economics to become professional economists, and they set the tone of economics studies in India until the 1960s. In this first group of foreign trained professional economists we can name C N Vakil, P N Banerjea, Jehangir Coyajee, Gyan Chand, D R Gadgil, P S Lokanathan, J P Niyogi, P J Thomas, P P Pillai, John Mathai, Radhakamal Mukherjea to name a few. Ambedkar belonged to this group to receive education abroad under some of the most eminent economists of the time, but unfortunately he left the pursuit of academic professional economics very soon after coming to India having served for a brief period as professor of political economy at the Sydenham College of Commerce, Bombay. Our main interest today is to examine his solid contributions to the subject before he left the discipline and also see whether anything of the deep understanding of economics he had acquired during the early years, surfaced later.

The first thing that strikes us is that Ambedkar had studied under the foremost authorities of the time both at the Columbia University in the US and at the University of London. He came under the influence of the outstanding American philosopher of the time, John Dewey who was among Ambedkar's teachers at the Columbia University. Dewey had forsaken the then dominant Hegelian theory of ideas, and formulated an instrumentalist theory of knowledge, which conceived ideas as instruments to solve social problems. Ambedkar internalised Dewey's message, which considered philosophy, in its essentials, as criticism involving reconstruction. He could also have been influenced by one of the leading anthropologists of the US, A A Goldenweiser in whose seminar, Ambedkar was encouraged to present a paper on castes in India which was later published in the Indian Antiquary (May 1917). What was most fortuitous was Ambedkar's teacher of public finance, Edwin R A Seligman who was then the McVickar professor of political economy at Columbia, and firmly placed among the most outstanding students of public finance and history of economic thought at that time. You will know that he edited the monumental Encyclopaedia of Social Sciences published in the 1930s. Subsequently, when Ambedkar went to London, his teacher was an equally eminent economist, Edwin Cannan who was also an acknowledged authority on the history of economic thought. It is worth remembering that Cannan's edition of Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations was the most used edition until very recently when the Glasgow edition replaced it.

Ambedkar's major writings are easily listed because after the late 1920s, he seems to have written almost nothing, though he has made some extremely insightful comments here and there one of which I shall elaborate at the end. The major economics publications are The Problem of the Rupee: Its Origin and Its Solution (P S King and Son Ltd, London 1923), and The Evolution of Provincial Finance in British India – A Study in the Provincial Decentralisation of Imperial Finance (P S King and Son Ltd, London 1925). There is one significant academic paper he wrote in 1918, 'Small Holdings in India and Their Remedies' in Journal of the Indian Economic Society, Vol I, 1918. Besides these, there is his unpublished MA thesis, Administration and Finance of the East India Company (Columbia University, 1915). Apart from these academic economic writings, there are his Memoranda and evidence given to various government commissions, speeches in the different legislative bodies, and book reviews which all have some economic content. All of these have been brought together by the government of Maharashtra in a multi-volumed complete edition, Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar: Writings and Speeches. It is a matter of some regret that while much devotion and dedication has gone into the production of this edition, adequate attention to proper editing and scholarly annotating has not been tendered.

Earlier I remarked that it was unfortunate for the economics profession that Ambedkar decided to "changeover from economics to law and politics" as he remarked in the preface of the Indian edition of The Problem of the Rupee in 1947. It would appear that even at that stage, he hoped to come back to the subject by bringing the financial history from 1923 onwards in a second volume, and wrote "I can give them (readers) an assurance that they will not have to wait long for volume two. I am determined to bring it out with the least possible delay" (VI, p 323). But alas! within two months of writing this, India became free, and Ambedkar was caught once more in the world of law and politics, and he could not keep this promise.

I shall now examine four broad themes that Ambedkar concerned himself in his professional writings. Firstly, the policies examined by Ambedkar in his The Problem of the Rupee mainly, and elsewhere, deal with monetary standards as they had evolved during the previous few decades. The basic Indian currency unit, the rupee, has had a long history. Until 1893, it was based on a silver standard which means that the Indian rupee was based on the value of the silver content in it. From 1841 onwards gold coins also became legal tender at one mohur as equal to 15 silver rupees. Owing to vast gold discoveries in Australia and US, gold value fell, and from 1853 onwards gold coins ceased to be legal tender. Though many suggestions were made to introduce gold coinage especially after 1872, these were not heeded despite from 1873 onwards, due to enormous silver discoveries, the price of silver fell and hence the price of rupee slipped in terms of gold. From 1872 to 1893, this acted as a continued devaluation of the Indian currency which while was good for Indian exports, was not good for the Indian economy, it had to produce more rupees to remit expenses undertaken in England by India which were in sterling (i e, gold) terms. In 1893, the government stopped coining silver rupees though agreed to coin rupees in exchange of gold at a ratio of one pound four pence per rupee. It became managed currency with the government reserving the right to coin rupees whenever it was found necessary. The idea was to introduce eventually a gold standard with gold currency replacing the existing (managed) silver standard. In 1899, at the suggestion of the currency committee headed by H H Fowler, Indian mints were thrown open to issue gold coins. Gold was sought to be used widely, but it also recommended the silver rupee to remain unlimited legal tender. This was mistaken because under gold currency, rupee should have been token coin. From now on, many events took place till the gold exchange standard came to be established in 1906. According to this system, silver rupee was guaranteed convertibility into sterling pounds (based on gold value) at a fixed price, and make it available without any limit. The accumulated gold in India, instead of supporting a gold standard with gold currency in India, was kept in London to maintain the stability of the rate of exchange. However the system broke down in 1916 with the enormous rise in the value of the silver. Silver rupee more or less ceased to be merely token, and the system effectively became silver standard. Ambedkar's writings took all this and argued stridently for a proper gold standard with gold currency as he was highly critical of the gold exchange standard though the latter received powerful theoretical support from all the then leading authorities including John Maynard Keynes. Ambedkar's main thrust was to criticise the "reckless issue of rupee currency" made possible by the gold exchange standard. He highlighted the perversity of the system because gold reserves which were supposed to guard a run on the currency, depend actually upon adding to the currency stock. In general by removing the automaticity of the currency supply within the country, this system vests the government enormous power to bloat the money supply. The excessive importance given to maintain the stability of exchange as against internal stability of the value of currency was not a proper policy for India, he contended. Neither was Ambedkar a votary of deliberate lowering of the exchange rate whether planned or unplanned. Low exchange rate increases exports and boosts internal prices. This benefits the trading classes at the expense of the poorer people at home.

In a gold exchange standard, the coinage is manipulated by the government to keep it at par with the value of gold. Ambedkar asked: Was the job of currency management only important for the amount of gold it will procure in the external market? Obviously not, because "what really concerns those who use money is not how much gold that money is worth, but how much of things in general (of which gold is an infinitesimal part) that money is worth. Everywhere, therefore, the attempt is to keep money stable in terms of commodities in general, and that is but proper, for what ministers to the welfare of people is not so much the precious metals as commodities and services of more direct utility" (VI, p 563). Ambedkar's commitment was internal stability, and he was convinced that only an automatic system based on gold standard with gold currency could achieve this desirable end. Like every economist of his generation, he was a believer in the quantity theory of money and was afraid that governments will tend to artificially increase money in circulation. In his memorandum given to the Hilton Young Commission in 1925 he pointed out: "a managed currency is to be altogether avoided when the management is to be in the hands of the government". While there is less risk with monetary management by a private bank because "the penalty for imprudent issue, or mismanagement is visited by disaster directly upon the property of the issuer". In the case of the government "the chance of mismanagement is greater" because the issue of money "is authorised and conducted by men who are never under any present responsibility for private loss in case of bad judgment or mismanagement" (VI, p 627). In short, Ambedkar's conclusion is clearly towards price stability through conservative and automatic monetary management. This is of such current relevance that in these days of burgeoning budget deficits and their automatic monetisation, it would appear that we could do with an effective restraint on liquidity creation through an automatic mechanism.

The second theme that Ambedkar discussed in his academic publication The Evolution of Provincial Finance in British India (1925) relates to public finances. Ambedkar draws his main conclusions from his study of the Indian system which are probably even more relevant now than it was at the time he wrote. What arrangements can be made in a public fiscal system that will enable it to be "administratively workable"? The main objective according to him was: "To make administrative polities independent by requiring them to finance themselves entirely out of their own respective resources without having to depend upon one another must always be regarded as a very important end to be kept in view in devising a new financial arrangement". This is not always possible because of "several concurrent or overlapping tax jurisdiction". The two methods to solve the problem, i e, 'system of divided heads' and 'contributions' both have advantages and disadvantages.

Ambedkar looked at some of the consequences of the Montague-Chelmsford reforms in provincial finances. What he cites from the despatch of the secretary of state could have been written now: "If the financial stability of the Provinces is not to be undermined, with ultimate jeopardy to the Government of India itself, it is impossible to contemplate the continuance of a series of Provincial deficits financed by borrowing either direct from the public or from the Central Government". The similarity does not end. The provinces proposed an increase in their resources by revising the financial arrangements enunciated in the Act. What the secretary of state said in 1922, might have been said by Yashwant Sinha today: "Equilibrium can only be achieved by reduction of expenditure and the adoption of measures which will lead to an increase in revenue". Ambedkar of course is scathing towards what he calls the "very unreasonable attitude" of the provinces, and points out how they have all failed their duty. Years later in 1939, he was to remark that "patriotism vanishes when you touch a man's pocket and I am sure that the States representatives will prefer their own financial interest to the necessities of a common front" (I, p 347). He squarely blames the governments for lacking political will to achieve efficient and equitable economic administration: "National prosperity may be great and growing and the increase of national wealth may be proceeding unchecked. If under such circumstances enough revenue is not obtained the fault does not lie with the social income. Rather it is a fault of the government which must be said to have failed to organise and marshal the national resources for fiscal purposes. The same is to some extent true of the Indian government. As for the base of taxation, Ambedkar considered income from land as the most likely source to augment state revenue, but he was vehemently opposed to the "pernicious effect of the system which bases the tax on a unit land held" (VI, 302ff). Ambedkar knew the problem clearly of tax proposals. Under the diarchy, when the government is run by a ministry recruited from the elected members of the provincial legislature, it would be futile to expect tax increases. More generally he said that if "nomination was the general mode of obtaining a seat in the Legislature", it was not necessary to "mind the prejudices of the electors". If however, the "seat is in the gift of the elector a candidate to the Legislature who proposes to touch his pocket has a small chance of success, even though the new taxes are to result in more than proportionate benefit". In any case a political party which "has won power from a bureaucracy by accusing it of heavy taxation cannot easily disgrace itself by continuing the same policy". But can they reduce public expenditure by enforcing administrative economies? Not likely because under diarchy, the governor in council will not allow retrenchment as he has no particular interest in effecting economies in public expenditure. The result was that "the chances of an early equilibrium in Provincial finance are very small". One wonders whether Ambedkar was talking of state finances in India in 1999?

Ambedkar's criticism of diarchy has a modern ring to it. Again in Ambedkar's words: "if there is no sound finance in the Provinces it is because diarchy is not a good form of government. Now, why is diarchy not a good form of government apart from its basic undemocratic character? The answer …. is very simple….it is opposed to the principle of collective responsibility". If an administration has to work smoothly, "it must recognise the principle of impartibility of governmental work and a collective responsibility of the administrators in the execution thereof". It is not easily understood that government work by nature is invisible because in practice "the functions of government can be and commonly are partitioned, as they are between local bodies and between departments" (VI, p 303). This does not mean that there is no "common thread that runs through them all: that no function of government acts in vacuo; that each reacts on some other function, and that the various functions cannot act at all produce orderly progress unless there is some force to harmonise them". Collective responsibility is this harmonising force. The conclusion is unmistakable: "Hybrid executives, divided responsibility, division of functions, reservation of powers, cannot make for a good system of government, and where there is no good system of government, there can be little hope for a sound system of finance" (VI, p 307). There is some discussion on public expenditure. The main point he makes is that an alien government cannot be expected to use the funds it has to the betterment of the people. As he made it clear: "if the Executive in India did not do certain things most conducive to progress it was because by reason of its being impersonal and also by reason of its character, motives and interests it could not sympathise with the living forces operating in the Indian Society, was not charged with its wants, its pains, its cravings and its desires, was inimical to its aspirations, did not advance education, disfavoured Swadeshi or snapped at anything that smacked of nationalism, it was because all these things went against its grain". In other words, the government "not being of the people could not feel the pulse of the people". One would have expected that Ambedkar would have given detailed treatment to problems of taxation and expenditure having been a student of Seligman, but as his concerns were different, he did not give much importance. But his interest surfaced on these issues when dealing with the Indian Constitution almost at the fag end of his professional career.

This leads me to the third theme of Ambedkarian economics. One has heard of the famous canons of taxation enunciated by Adam Smith more than 200-years ago, but has there been any similar canons regarding public expenditure? Nothing so pithy and pointed came my way in my not necessarily exhaustive studies of public finance literature until I happened to notice recently such canons in a most unlikely place. B R Ambedkar while discussing the functions of the Comptroller and Auditor General said in 1949 during the framing of our Constitution that governments should spend the resources garnered from the public not only as per rules, laws and regulations, but also to see that "faithfulness, wisdom and economy" have gone into the acts of expenditure by public authorities. Firstly, the question of faithfulness. Faith in this context as defined by the dictionary is "duty or commitment to fulfil a trust, promise …" A main reason for the existence of public finance is that human beings living in society require certain things like roads, law and order, etc. that cannot be enjoyed exclusively. As the costs and benefits of such items cannot be internalised, they will not be supplied through the free market mechanism. Governments exist to provide these common requirements. Citizens in democratic forms of government are promised by their representatives to improve their welfare by judicious provision of such public goods and services, and they place their trust in the government by delegating authority to take taxation and expenditure decisions. How the individual acts of public spending results in the augmentation of social welfare may not always be obvious because of spillover effects and long gestation periods. When the citizens are thus not in a position to comprehend clearly the consequences of government action, it is so easy to mislead them by false claims. Hence it becomes all the more necessary for the government to be faithful to the original intentions. For example, if a certain sum is allotted to a centre for higher education to improve its facilities without specifying the item of expenditure, a more faithful way of spending would be on libraries, laboratories and other items of teaching and research rather than on frivolous things such as statues of past professors or air conditioned limousine for its vice chancellor. The fidelity to the original intention must be tempered by 'wisdom'. For example, the original intention of the policy may be to spread appropriate information through expenditure on the activities of the DAVP or information departments. But such a policy when executed may be faithful to the intentions but may not be wise. In other words, expenditure should transcend the personal, the ephemeral and the showy, but must be done with circumspection and understanding of the deeper issues involved. While sagacity, prudence and common sense are the hallmarks of a just and wise ruler, he should also possess experience and knowledge that can be applied critically and practically in specific areas. In the context of a just utilisation of public funds, economic wisdom becomes a paramount necessity. But mere apparent faithfulness to the original intentions and wisdom are not sufficient in themselves for public expenditure to achieve social well-being. The importance of the third canon of public expenditure takes a special meaning here. 'Economy' in public expenditure does not simply mean a low level of public spending, but it is the intelligent use of funds so that every paise fetches the most benefit. Those in charge of public funds must strive to evaluate alternative methods of achieving the objectives and see to it that leakages do not occur. The remarkable thing about Ambedkar's canons is that they are ism-neutral. One can follow a policy of a large or a small public sector and yet the principles behind these canons are applicable. The canons are sufficiently flexible so that expenditure decisions can be related to the state of the economy. For example, what may be economic wisdom in undertaking a particular item of expenditure in one country may be economic stupidity at other times and other places. The canons emphasise that the expenditure decisions should closely relate to the specified objectives and the available resources besides ensuring economy, efficiency and effectiveness in the implementation of government decisions. While the determination of the aggregate level of expenditure is a matter of overall policy based on the democratic will of the people, allocation of that total among competing demands and the manner of utilisation fall within the domain of these canons. Following the canons scrupulously in individual items of expenditure cannot always eliminate problems arising out of the broader economic policy pursued by the government. But they can mitigate the harmful effects of ill-considered policies of our governments. In the present context of high fiscal deficits, a rigorous application of the Ambedkar canons can help reduce the quantum of public expenditure.

The last theme I wish to discuss relates to his ideas on agrarian economy. In his paper 'Small holdings in India and their remedies' (I, 453ff) published in 1918, he takes on a problem that is still haunting Indian agrarian system. At that time, British administrators and academics in India who were used to their own country where large agricultural land holdings was the norm, were appalled at the low productivity of Indian land. This they ascribed to the minuscule size of the farm land cultivated by Indian peasants. A number of suggestions emanated from sympathetic observers like H S Jevons of Allahabad University, Harold Mann and G F Keatinge of Bombay, and the committee appointed to make proposals on the consolidation of small and scattered holdings in the Baroda State (1917). They all proposed to consolidate and/or enlarge the holdings in the hands of individual farmers through interesting administrative measures. Ambedkar made a critical examination of the above, and in the process arrived at some very advanced conclusions. To begin with, he struck at the very root of the proposals by arguing that there can be no such thing as a correct size of agricultural holding. As he argued, land is only one of the many factors of production and the productivity of one factor of production is dependent upon the proportion in which the other factors of production are combined. In his words: "the chief object of an efficient production consists in making every factor in the concern contribute its highest; and it can do that only when it can co-operate with its fellow of the required capacity. Thus, there is an ideal of proportions that ought to subsist among the various factors combined, though the ideal will vary with the changes in proportions". From this he proceeds to say that if agriculture "is to be treated as an economic enterprise, then, by itself, there could be no such thing as a large or small holding". If this is so, what is the problem? Certainly it is not due to a want of efficiency in utilising whatever the peasant has. Ambedkar cites with approval an English civil servant: "The ryots have a keen eye to the results of a good system of farming as exhibited on model farms". Ambedkar's answer rests on the inadequacy of other factors of production. The insufficiency of capital which is needed for acquiring "agricultural stock and implements" arises from savings. But as Ambedkar remarks "that saving is possible where there is surplus is a common place of political economy". Even this is a surface reason, the ultimate cause being "the parent evil of the mal-adjustment in her social economy". This is partly defined as the non-availability of sufficient land in India to give her prosperity through the means of agriculture alone. There is almost a prophetic statement made by him long before modern theorists of development systematised notions of disguised unemployment or under-employment: "A large agricultural population with the lowest proportion of land in actual cultivation means that a large part of the agricultural population is superfluous and idle." Even if the lands are consolidated and enlarged and cultivated through capitalistic enterprise, it will not solve the problem as it will only aggravate "the evils by adding to our stock of idle labour". The only way out of this impasse is to take people away from land. This will automatically "lessen and destroy the premium that at present weighs heavily on land in India" and large "economic holding will force itself upon us as a pure gain". He concludes that "Industrialisation of India is the soundest remedy for the agricultural problems of India". This can generate adequate surplus that will also eventually benefit the agricultural sector. Indeed a shift from primary industry to secondary industry is vital and it must be attempted seriously to prevent the present enlargement of the rural population that was being witnessed and remedies based on what he calls "faulty political economy" were being advocated.

What can we conclude from this brief foray into the various economic themes with which Ambedkar was concerned? To begin, his main purpose in the pursuit of the discipline was normative. In other words, he hoped that his study of economics will lead to useful policy conclusions. Thus policy oriented welfare issues interested him more than studying the technical aspects of the discipline to demonstrate economic theorems. This however does not mean that he did not show any regard for theoretical conclusions derived by others. Indeed it is significant that his knowledge of economic theory was amazingly up-to-date. Not only was his reading of contemporary economic literature wide and deep, he applied whatever that was in the cutting edge of the discipline to concrete situations, very imaginatively. Just to give an example, in a paper he wrote in 1918, he refers to the contributions that appeared in the American Economic Review issued a few months earlier. Another example of his penchant for using received economic theory to critically examine arguments is in an obscure review written in 1918 of Bertrand Russell's book Principles of Social Reconstruction. Ambedkar takes him on the question of the 'Love of money' leading to human beings to "mutilate their own nature from a mistaken theory of what constitutes success" with the consequence of promoting a dead uniformity of "character and purpose, a diminution in the joy of life, and a stress and strain which leaves whole communities weary, discouraged and disillusioned". Ambedkar tears into this argument of the 'moralists' against 'love of money' showing that this philosophy is connected to a particular economic circumstances, and not of universal validity. In any case, money is required for something, and it is the purpose for which money is loved "will endow it with credit or cover it with shame" (I, 483ff). He brings the heavy artillery of neo-classical theory of marginal utility developed by as he says "Cournot, Gossen, Walras, Menger and Jevons" to counter Russell's position that it is all due to individual preference, and that people will give up things as soon as they have too much of anything. His books and papers are full of appropriate citations from the great contemporary economists, Irving Fisher, Alfred Marshall, Richard Ely, Alfred Kemmerer, Allyn Young, and John Maynard Keynes to name a few.

Ambedkar was not content with the current corpus of thought because he had a tremendous historical sense because he was fully aware that present situations wear the scars of the past. In almost all his academic works, he employed the historical method. Whether it is the currency conundrums or public finance, Ambedkar digs deep in the bowels of history to understand the significance the events he was currently analysing. It was analytical rather than the dialectical method he used though occasionally one does find a dialectical approach in his writings. Thus dealing with the need for legal solutions to social problems, he said: "Society is always conservative. It does not change unless it is compelled to and that too very slowly. When change begins, there is always a struggle between the old and the new, and the new is always in danger of being eliminated in the struggle for survival unless it is supported" (XII, p 115). However dialectics as a method of approaching any subject is absent in Ambedkar's work.

In many areas of Indian economic history, he was truly a pioneer and he faced all the problems that a pioneer faces as he pointed out in the preface of his The Evolution of Provincial Finance. Like Karl Marx some decades earlier, Ambedkar too pored over voluminous government reports and blue books to arrive at firm conclusions. Arising from his conscious use of history, was his use of statistical data. Notwithstanding the various lacunae of the official data, he skillfully marshalled the available data and used whatever statistical techniques that were available at that time. The value of his conclusions are substantial precisely because his analysis was based on sound empirical and historical foundations.

Thanks to Ambedkar's study under Cannan and Seligman, he was deeply read in the history of economic thought which came in most useful in all his writing. Apart from that he was widely read in history, jurisprudence, literature and classics. All this shows in the remarkable clarity and style one sees in his books, papers, speeches and so on.

One cannot but marvel at the amount of writing he had accomplished and that too in pioneer areas and difficult subjects. And all these before he had crossed his 30 years. The range too is remarkable, from a disquisition on ancient Indian commerce to the current problems faced by the Indian rural population. In all his academic writings – as indeed in his later political life – he was never overawed by authority. If something warranted criticism, he did not hesitate to voice his opinion even if it meant going against the most acclaimed author of the age or his own teacher as in the case of Edwin Cannan. The criticism was always based on sound judgment, and never used in a spirit of bellicosity.

Ambedkar firmly belonged to the Judeo-Greek-enlightenment tradition and was an uncompromising modernist. This shows in his approach to economics, politics, law, society and everything else including the matter of sartorial habits. He himself was always impeccably dressed in western clothes, and chastised Mahatma Gandhi for going to the Round Table Conference in London to discuss political settlement "as though he was going to a Vaishnava shrine singing Narsi Mehta's Songs" (I, p 351). His preference for a modernist approach comes most clearly when he compared Ranade and Gandhi: "In the age of Ranade the leaders struggled to modernise India. In the age of Gandhi the leaders are making her a living specimen of antiquity. In the age of Ranade leaders depended upon experience as a corrective method of their thought and their deeds. The leaders of the present age depend upon their inner voice as their guide. Not only is there a difference in their mental make up, there is a difference even in their viewpoint regarding external appearance. The leaders of the old age took care to be well clad while the leaders of the present age take pride in being half-clad" (I, p 352). But more importantly he believed in material progress, constitutional approach to solving problems, rule of law, right to property, civil liberties, democracy based on the liberty, equality and fraternity principles enunciated by the French Revolution. His extensive critique of the caste system is also based on enlightenment principles of economic efficiency through private initiative, individual liberties and human equality.

It is possible to construe from his later – especially in the 1940s – that he moved away from the strict mainstream economic theoretical position. It is no doubt true that he moved towards an economy based on state socialism where he proposed "state ownership in agriculture with a collectivised method of cultivation", state ownership of industry, nationalisation of insurance and so on. It was probably more due to functional reasons than any fundamental change in his enlightenment economic ideology, because he felt that private sector had not achieved growth and his rational mind told him that we should "put an obligation on the state to plan the economic life of the people on lines which would lead to highest point of productivity without closing every avenue to private enterprise, and also provide for the equitable distribution of wealth" (I, p 408). We must recollect that Ambedkar placed much value on democracy and individual liberty which he thought could be preserved by judicious state action. In a sense this conforms to the classic Smithian position. The causal chain that Adam Smith envisaged was that economic and social freedom/equality will propel the society towards political equality/freedom. And this is long lasting than the other way round where first you get political freedom and strive to achieve economic and social equality/freedom. In almost all his writings, Ambedkar while fighting for political emancipation, does not forget the need for social and economic reforms. Again it was Ambedkar's strong belief in the primacy of rationally directed social and economic development that he advocated centralisation of economic activities. Whether it is his signal achievements in formulating a coherent national water policy (done during his membership of Viceroy's Council 1942-1946) as elaborated in a recent book Ambedkar's Role in Economic Planning and Water Policy by Sukhadeo Thorat, or his helping to give a unitary bias to the Indian Constitution, Ambedkar's anxiety was to promote economic and social development of the Indian nation as quickly as possible. Indian Constitution is more unitary than federal which in a sense is a reflection of Ambedkar's long standing bias as he said in 1939 at the Gokhale School of Politics while delivering Kale Memorial Lecture: "I am not opposed to a Federal Form of Government. I confess I have a partiality for a Unitary form of Government. I think India needs it" (I, p 353).

This is not a place to involve myself in a controversy especially about Ambedkar's writings after 1925. But frequently mention is made about Buddhism and Marx while discussing Ambedkar's ideas. Obviously he was appreciative of the humanitarian and anti-exploitative sentiments that are in Buddhist and Marxian thought, but there is no evidence of them in his academic works. Even in later years when he did study Buddhism deeply in order to convert to that religion, his reading of Buddhist economics is at variance with that of others especially Schumacher, who in his Small Is Beautiful writes a substantial essay on Buddhist economics. There is more in common with the anti-modernist Mahatma Gandhi rather than with the modernist Ambedkar.

The four themes from the early writings of Ambedkar that I have sketched here shows in ample measure his keen economic mind and there is every possibility that he might have achieved substantial success in academic economics had he chosen to continue in the groves of academe. But he must have been touched by what the great enlightenment Scottish philosopher, Adam Ferguson stated in 1767 in his monumental An Essay on the History of Civil Society: "Where power is already established, where the strong are unwilling to suffer restraint, or the weak unable to find a protection, the defects of law are marks of the most perfect corruption". This could have led him to the study of law and jurisprudence so that he could reform the legal system to make it more equitable and civilised. But law and economics are very much intertwined and though he might have exiled himself from the academic pursuit of economics, the practice of that discipline was not totally absent in his legal and political career. We can end our tribute to this great son of India no better than what the unfortunate Pope Gregory VII, the great reforming Head of the Catholic Church of the 11th century said: Dilexi justitiam et odi iniquitatem, propterea morior in exilion (I have loved justice and hated iniquity: therefore I die in exile).

[I am grateful to Professor Kuppuswamy, Ambedkar Professor at the Madras University not only for inviting me to deliver this lecture but also for providing me with necessary books and other materials. References in the brackets refer to the volume and page of Babasaheb Ambedkar: Writings and Speeches brought out by the Government of Maharashtra.]

Source: EPW

http://atrocitynews.wordpress.com/2007/03/24/ambedkars-contributions-to-indian-economics/


The Social Context of an Ideology: Ambedkar's Political and Social Thought (Hardcover)

by M S Gore (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Social movements are not idiosyncratic events which occur randomly; rather, they are collective attempts to bring about--or prevent-- either individual or institutional social change by means characterized in identifiable patterns of behavior. In this major study, Gore examines the nature of an ideology of protest and locates it within the broader framework of a study of both social movements and the sociology of idea-systems. Predicated on the need to more fully explore and discuss the doctrine of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, this volume approaches his work from substantive as well as theoretical perspectives in its presentation of his arguments promoting the rights of individuals trapped within the lower levels of the caste system. This integration of Ambedkar's philosophy with a historical overview of social protest provides an excellent balance of ideological positing with established fact. As an introduction to Ambedkar, The Social Context of An Ideology is a broad and useful reference; as the catalyst for renewed study and debate, it is a valuable resource. "A valuable sociological treatise. The most important single distinguishing feature of Gore's endeavor is that he has characterised Ambedkar's movement as a protest movement. It is this protest framework that enables one to understand and even appreciate Ambedkar's critique of the efforts of early and contemporary social reformers directed towards the eradicating of untouchability." --Freedom First "The author has successfully shown how Dr. Ambedkar's efforts were different in nature, contents and style from his predecessors in the social field and his contemporaries in the political field. the author has succeeded in scrutinising 'Amdedkar ideology' by putting it in a theoretical context and establishing linkage between social context, role of leadership and ideology.... The book is an important addition to the literature about Dr. Ambedkar's thought and movement. The compact and analytical treatment of the subject is helpful to both the students of political sociology and social activists in understanding Dr. Ambedkar and his protest movement in a better manner." --The Downtrodden India "There is enough in these pages to set off other researches on related themes....The sections on Ambedkar's ideology and his participation in the national political scene are the most interesting and provocative, and it is for these that the book will be noticed, read, and remembered. On the whole, it is the author's presentation of Ambedkar's thought that will win this volume a wide readership." --Economic and Political Weekly "This book can legitimately claim a special status in the literature on Ambedkar and his social and political philosophy . . . . Prof. Gore's is a well-researched, elegant work on Ambedkar's ideology of struggle and its social setting. This should be read with great interest by all serious students of Indian society and polity." -Deccan Herald "Being a professional social scientist with a firm grip over sociological concepts, the author has been able to deal with his theoretical framework with ease." -New Quest "This book is of immense value to those who want to get a correct picture of the nature of life in Ambedkar." --The Hindu "The book under review is a brilliant research by Professor Gore into the life and career of Ambedkar and the implications of the Ambedkaian ideology of protest vis-a-vis the Hindu social order. . . . His review of the performance of Ambedkar as a politician is superbly authentic. . . . The book is superb by all yardsticks and will prove rewarding to the scores of practical politicians." --Business Standard "An in-depth analysis of Ambedkar's ideology and its social origins." --South Asia

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B. R. Ambedkar

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Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar

B. R. Ambedkar
Alternate name(s): Baba Saheb
Date of birth: April 14, 1891
Place of birth: Mhow, Central Provinces, British India
Date of death: December 6, 1956
Place of death: Delhi, India
Movement: Dalit Buddhist movement
Major organizations: Independent Labour Party, Scheduled Castes Federation, Republican Party of India
Religion: Buddhism

Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (Marathi: डॊ.भीमराव रामजी आंबेडकर) (April 14, 1891December 6, 1956), also known as Babasaheb, was an Indian nationalist, jurist, Dalit political leader and a Buddhist revivalist. He was also the chief architect of the Indian Constitution. Born into a poor Untouchable family, Ambedkar spent his whole life fighting against social discrimination, the system of Chaturvarna — the Hindu categorization of human society into four varnas — and the Indian caste system. He is also credited with having sparked the Dalit Buddhist movement. Ambedkar has been honoured with the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award.

Overcoming numerous social and financial obstacles, Ambedkar became one of the first "untouchables" to obtain a college education in India. Eventually earning law degrees and multiple doctorates for his study and research in law, economics and political science from Columbia University and the London School of Economics, Ambedkar returned home a famous scholar and practiced law for a few years before publishing journals advocating political rights and social freedom for India's untouchables.

Contents

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Early life

The young Ambedkar.

Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar was born in the British-founded town and military cantonment of Mhow in the Central Provinces (now in Madhya Pradesh).[1] He was the 14th and last child of Ramji Maloji Sakpal and Bhimabai Murbadkar.[2] His family was of Marathi background from the town of Ambavade in the Ratnagiri district of modern-day Maharashtra. They belonged to the Hindu Mahar caste, who were treated as untouchables and subjected to intense socio-economic discrimination. Ambedkar's ancestors had for long been in the employment of the army of the British East India Company, and his father served in the Indian Army at the Mhow cantonment. He had received a degree of formal education in Marathi and English, and encouraged his children to learn and work hard at school.

Belonging to the Kabir Panth, Ramji Sakpal encouraged his children to read the Hindu classics. He used his position in the army to lobby for his children to study at the government school, as they faced resistance owing to their caste. Although able to attend school, Ambedkar and other Untouchable children were segregated and given no attention or assistance by the teachers. They were not allowed to sit inside the class. Even if they needed to drink water somebody from a higher caste would have to pour that water from a height as they were not allowed to touch either the water or the vessel that contained it. This task was usually performed for the young Ambedkar by the school peon, and if he could not be found Ambedkar went without water.[2] Ramji Sakpal retired in 1894 and the family moved to Satara two years later. Shortly after their move, Ambedkar's mother died. The children were cared for by their paternal aunt, and lived in difficult circumstances. Only three sons — Balaram, Anandrao and Bhimrao — and two daughters — Manjula and Tulasa — of the Ambedkars would go on to survive them. Of his brothers and sisters, only Ambedkar succeeded in passing his examinations and graduating to a higher school. His native village name was "Ambavade" in Ratnagiri District so he changed his name from "Sakpal" to "Ambedkar" with the recommendation and faith of Mahadev Ambedkar, a Deshasta Brahmin teacher who believed in him.[1]

Ramji Sakpal remarried in 1898, and the family moved to Mumbai (then Bombay), where Ambedkar became the first untouchable student at the Government High School near Elphinstone Road.[3] Although excelling in his studies, Ambedkar was increasingly disturbed by the segregation and discrimination that he faced. In 1907, he passed his matriculation examination and entered the University of Bombay, becoming one of the first persons of untouchable origin to enter a college in India. This success provoked celebrations in his community, and after a public ceremony he was presented with a biography of the Buddha by his teacher Krishnaji Arjun Keluskar also known as Dada Keluskar, a Maratha caste scholar. Ambedkar's marriage had been arranged the previous year as per Hindu custom, to Ramabai, a nine-year old girl from Dapoli.[3] In 1908, he entered Elphinstone College and obtained a scholarship of twenty five rupees a month from the Gayakwad ruler of Baroda, Sahyaji Rao III for higher studies in the USA. By 1912, he obtained his degree in economics and political science, and prepared to take up employment with the Baroda state government. His wife gave birth to his first son, Yashwant, in the same year. Ambedkar had just moved his young family and started work, when he dashed back to Mumbai to see his ailing father, who died on February 2, 1913.

Fight against untouchability

As a leading Indian scholar, Ambedkar had been invited to testify before the Southborough Committee, which was preparing the Government of India Act 1919. At this hearing, Ambedkar argued for creating separate electorates and reservations for Dalits and other religious communities. In 1920, he began the publication of the weekly Mooknayak (Leader of the Silent) in Mumbai. Attaining popularity, Ambedkar used this journal to criticize orthodox Hindu politicians and a perceived reluctance of the Indian political community to fight caste discrimination. His speech at a Depressed Classes Conference in Kolhapur impressed the local state ruler Shahu IV, who shocked orthodox society by dining with Ambekdar. Ambedkar established a successful legal practise, and also organised the Bahishkrit Hitakarini Sabha to promote education and socio-economic uplifting of the depressed classes. In 1926, he became a nominated member of the Bombay Legislative Council. By 1927 Dr. Ambedkar decided to launch active movements against untouchability. He began with public movements and marches to open up and share public drinking water resources, also he began a struggle for the right to enter Hindu temples. He led a satyagraha in Mahad to fight for the right of the untouchable community to draw water from the main water tank of the town.

He was appointed to the Bombay Presidency Committee to work with the all-European Simon Commission in 1928. This commission had sparked great protests across India, and while its report was ignored by most Indians, Ambedkar himself wrote a separate set of recommendations for future constitutional reformers.

Poona Pact

By now Ambedkar had become one of the most prominent untouchable political figures of the time. He had grown increasingly critical of mainstream Indian political parties for their perceived lack of emphasis for the elimination of the caste system. Ambedkar criticized the Indian National Congress and its leader Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi, whom he accused of reducing the untouchable community to a figure of pathos. Ambedkar was also dissatisfied with the failures of British rule, and advocated a political identity for untouchables separate from both the Congress and the British. At a Depressed Classes Conference on August 8, 1930 Ambedkar outlined his political vision, insisting that the safety of the Depressed Classes hinged on their being independent of the Government and the Congress both:

We must shape our course ourselves and by ourselves... Political power cannot be a panacea for the ills of the Depressed Classes. Their salvation lies in their social elevation. They must cleanse their evil habits. They must improve their bad ways of living.... They must be educated.... There is a great necessity to disturb their pathetic contentment and to instill into them that divine discontent which is the spring of all elevation.[2]

In this speech, Ambedkar criticized the Salt Satyagraha launched by Gandhi and the Congress. Ambedkar's criticisms and political work had made him very unpopular with orthodox Hindus, as well as with many Congress politicians who had earlier condemned untouchability and worked against discrimination across India. This was largely because these "liberal" politicians usually stopped short of advocating full equality for untouchables.

In 1932, M. C. Rajah concluded a pact with two right-wingers in the Indian National Congress, Dr. B. S. Moonje [4][5] and Jadhav. According to this pact, Moonje offered reserved seats to scheduled castes in return for Rajah's support. This demand prompted Ambedkar to make an official demand for Separate Electorate System on an all-India basis. Ambedkar's prominence and popular support amongst the untouchable community had increased, and he was invited to attend the Second Round Table Conference in London in 1931. Here he sparred verbally with Gandhi on the question of awarding separate electorates to untouchables.[2] A fierce opponent of separate electorates on religious and sectarian lines, Gandhi feared that separate electorates for untouchables would divide Hindu society for future generations.

When the British agreed with Ambedkar and announced the awarding of separate electorates, Gandhi began a fast-unto-death while imprisoned in the Yeravada Central Jail of Pune in 1932. Exhorting orthodox Hindu society to eliminate discrimination and untouchability, Gandhi asked for the political and social unity of Hindus. Gandhi's fast provoked great public support across India, and orthodox Hindu leaders, Congress politicians and activists such as Madan Mohan Malaviya and Palwankar Baloo organized joint meetings with Ambedkar and his supporters at Yeravada. Fearing a communal reprisal and killings of untouchables in the event of Gandhi's death, Ambedkar agreed under massive coercion from the supporters of Gandhi to drop the demand for separate electorates, and settled for a reservation of seats. This agreement, which saw Gandhi end his fast, in the end achieved more representation for the untouchables, while dropping the demand for separate electorates that was promised through the British Communal Award prior to Ambedkar's meeting with Gandhi. Ambedkar was to later criticise this fast of Gandhi as a gimmick to deny political rights to the untouchables and increase the coercion he had faced to give up the demand for separate electorates.

Political career

Ambedkar delivering a speech to a rally at Yeola, Nasik on 13th October 1935.

In 1935, Ambedkar was appointed principal of the Government Law College, a position he held for two years. Settling in Mumbai, Ambedkar oversaw the construction of a large house, and stocked his personal library with more than 50,000 books.[6] His wife Ramabai died after a long illness in the same year. It had been her long-standing wish to go on a pilgrimage to Pandharpur, but Ambedkar had refused to let her go, telling her that he would create a new Pandharpur for her instead of Hinduism's Pandharpur which treated them as untouchables. His own views and attitudes had hardened against orthodox Hindus, despite a significant increase in momentum across India for the fight against untouchability. and he began criticizing them even as he was criticized himself by large numbers of Hindu activists. Speaking at the Yeola Conversion Conference on October 13 near Nasik, Ambedkar announced his intention to convert to a different religion and exhorted his followers to leave Hinduism.[6] He would repeat his message at numerous public meetings across India.

In 1936, Ambedkar founded the Independent Labour Party, which won 15 seats in the 1937 elections to the Central Legislative Assembly. He published his book The Annihilation of Caste in the same year, based on the thesis he had written in New York. Attaining immense popular success, Ambedkar's work strongly criticized Hindu religious leaders and the caste system in general. He protested the Congress decision to call the untouchable community Harijans (Children of God), a name coined by Gandhi.[6] Ambedkar served on the Defence Advisory Committee and the Viceroy's Executive Council as minister for labour.

Between 1941 and 1945, he published a large number of highly controversial books and pamphlets, including Thoughts on Pakistan, in which he criticized the Muslim League's demand for a separate Muslim state of Pakistan. With What Congress and Gandhi Have Done to the Untouchables, Ambedkar intensified his attacks on Gandhi and the Congress, charging them with hypocrisy. [7] In his work Who Were the Shudras?, Ambedkar attempted to explain the formation of the Shudras i.e. the lowest caste in hierarchy of Hindu caste system. He also emphasised how Shudras are separate from Untouchables. Ambedkar oversaw the transformation of his political party into the All India Scheduled Castes Federation, although it performed poorly in the elections held in 1946 for the Constituent Assembly of India. In writing a sequel to Who Were the Shudras? in 1948, Ambedkar lambasted Hinduism in the The Untouchables: A Thesis on the Origins of Untouchability:

The Hindu Civilisation.... is a diabolical contrivance to suppress and enslave humanity. Its proper name would be infamy. What else can be said of a civilisation which has produced a mass of people... who are treated as an entity beyond human intercourse and whose mere touch is enough to cause pollution?

[7]

Ambedkar was also critical of Islam and its practices in South Asia. While justifying the Partition of India, he condemned the practice of child marriage in Muslim society, as well as the mistreatment of women. He said,

No words can adequately express the great and many evils of polygamy and concubinage, and especially as a source of misery to a Muslim woman. Take the caste system. Everybody infers that Islam must be free from slavery and caste.[While slavery existed], much of its support was derived from Islam and Islamic countries. While the prescriptions by the Prophet regarding the just and humane treatment of slaves contained in the Koran are praiseworthy, there is nothing whatever in Islam that lends support to the abolition of this curse. But if slavery has gone, caste among Musalmans [Muslims] has remained.[8]

He wrote that Muslim society is "even more full of social evils than Hindu Society is" and criticized Muslims for sugarcoating their sectarian caste system with euphemisms like "brotherhood". He also criticized the discrimination against the Arzal classes among Muslims who were regarded as "degraded", as well as the oppression of women in Muslim society through the oppressive purdah system. He alleged that while Purdah was also practiced by Hindus, only among Muslims was it sanctioned by religion. He criticized their fanaticism regarding Islam on the grounds that their literalist interpretations of Islamic doctrine made their society very rigid and impermeable to change. He further wrote that Indian Muslims have failed to reform their society unlike Muslims in other countries like Turkey.[8]

In a "communal malaise", both groups [Hindus and Muslims] ignore the urgent claims of social justice.[8]

While he was extremely critical of Muhammad Ali Jinnah and the communally divisive strategies of the Muslim League, he argued that Hindus and Muslims should segregate and the State of Pakistan be formed, as ethnic nationalism within the same country would only lead to more violence. He cited precedents in historical events such as the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire and Czechoslovakia to bolster his views regarding the Hindu-Muslim communal divide.[8]

However, he questioned whether the need for Pakistan was sufficient and suggested that it might be possible to resolve Hindu-Muslim differences in a less drastic way. He wrote that Pakistan must "justify its existence" accordingly. Since other countries such as Canada have also had communal issues with the French and English and have lived together, it might not be impossible for Hindus and Muslims to live together.[8]

He warned that the actual implementation of a two-state solution would be extremely problematic with massive population transfers and border disputes. This claim was prophetic, looking forward to the violent Partition of India after Independence.[8]

Architect of India's constitution

Upon India's independence on August 15, 1947, the new Congress-led government invited Ambedkar to serve as the nation's first law minister, which he accepted. On August 29, Ambedkar was appointed chairman of the Constitution Drafting Committee, charged by the Assembly to write free India's new Constitution. Ambedkar won great praise from his colleagues and contemporary observers for his drafting work. In this task Ambedkar's study of sangha practice among early Buddhists and his extensive reading in Buddhist scriptures was to come to his aid. Sangha practice incorporated voting by ballot, rules of debate and precedence and the use of agendas, committees and proposals to conduct business. Sangha practice itself was modelled on the oligarchic system of governance followed by tribal republics of ancient India such as the Shakyas and the Lichchavis. Thus, although Ambedkar used Western models to give his Constitution shape, its spirit was Indian and, indeed, tribal.

The text prepared by Ambedkar provided constitutional guarantees and protections for a wide range of civil liberties for individual citizens, including freedom of religion, the abolition of untouchability and the outlawing of all forms of discrimination Ambedkar argued for extensive economic and social rights for women, and also won the Assembly's support for introducing a system of reservations of jobs in the civil services, schools and colleges for members of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, a system akin to affirmative action. India's lawmakers hoped to eradicate the socio-economic inequalities and lack of opportunities for India's depressed classes through this measure, which had been originally envisioned as temporary on a need basis. The Constitution was adopted on November 26, 1949 by the Constituent Assembly. Speaking after the completion of his work, Ambedkar said:

Ambedkar resigned from the cabinet in 1951 following the stalling in parliament of his draft of the Hindu Code Bill, which sought to expound gender equality in the laws of inheritance, marriage and the economy. Although supported by Prime Minister Nehru, the cabinet and many other Congress leaders, it received criticism from a large number of members of parliament. Ambedkar independently contested an election in 1952 to the lower house of parliament, the Lok Sabha but was defeated. He was appointed to the upper house of parliament, the Rajya Sabha in March 1952 and would remain a member until his death.

Conversion to Buddhism

In the 1950s, Ambedkar turned his attention to Buddhism and travelled to Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) to attend a convention of Buddhist scholars and monks. While dedicating a new Buddhist vihara near Pune, Ambedkar announced that he was writing a book on Buddhism, and that as soon as it was finished, he planned to make a formal conversion to Buddhism.[9] Ambedkar twice visited Burma in 1954; the second time in order to attend the third conference of the World Fellowship of Buddhists in Rangoon. In 1955, he founded the Bharatiya Bauddha Mahasabha, or the Buddhist Society of India. He completed his final work, The Buddha and His Dhamma, in 1956. It was published posthumously.

After meetings with the Sri Lankan Buddhist monk Hammalawa Saddhatissa,[10] Ambedkar organised a formal public ceremony for himself and his supporters in Nagpur on October 14, 1956. Accepting the Three Refuges and Five Precepts from a Buddhist monk in the traditional manner, Ambedkar completed his own conversion. He then proceeded to convert an estimated 500,000 of his supporters who were gathered around him.[9] Taking the 22 Vows, Ambedkar and his supporters explicitly condemned and rejected Hinduism and Hindu philosophy. He then traveled to Kathmandu in Nepal to attend the Fourth World Buddhist Conference. He completed his final manuscript, The Buddha or Karl Marx on December 2, 1956.

Death / Mahanirvana

Since 1948, Ambedkar had been suffering from diabetes. He was bed-ridden from June to October in 1954 owing to clinical depression and failing eyesight.[9] He had been increasingly embittered by political issues, which took a toll on his health. His health worsened as he furiously worked through 1955. Just three days after completing his final manuscript The Buddha and His Dhamma, it is said that Ambedkar died in his sleep on December 6, 1956 at his home in Delhi.

Since the Caste hindus denied the cremation at Dadar crematorium, A Buddhist-style cremation was organised for him at Chowpatty beach on December 7, attended by hundreds of thousands of supporters, activists and admirers.

Ambedkar was survived by his second wife Savita Ambedkar, born as a caste Brahmin and converted to Buddhism with him. His wife's name before marriage was Sharda Kabir. Savita Ambedkar died as a Buddhist in 2002. Ambedkar's grandson, Prakash Yaswant Ambedkar leads the Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangha and has served in both houses of the Indian Parliament.

A number of unfinished typescripts and handwritten drafts were found among Ambedkar's notes and papers and gradually made available. Among these were Waiting for a Visa, which probably dates from 1935-36 and is an autobiographical work, and the Untouchables, or the Children of India's Ghetto, which refers to the census of 1951.[9]

A memorial for Ambedkar was established in his Delhi house at 26 Alipur Road. His birthdate is celebrated as a public holiday known as Ambedkar Jayanti. He was posthumously awarded India's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna in 1990. Many public institutions are named in his honour, such as the Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Open University in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, B. R. Ambedkar Bihar University, Muzaffarpur, the other being Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport in Nagpur, which was otherwise known as Sonegaon Airport. A large official portrait of Ambedkar is on display in the Indian Parliament building.

On the anniversary of his birth (14 April) and death (6 December) and on Dhamma Chakra Pravartan Din, 14th Oct at Nagpur, at least half a million people gather to pay homage to him at his memorial in Mumbai. Thousands of bookshops are set up, and books are sold. His message to his followers was " Educate!!!, Organize!!!, Agitate!!!".

Ambedkar v. Gandhi on village life

Ambedkar was a fierce critic of Mahatma Gandhi (and the Indian National Congress). He was criticized by his contemporaries and modern scholars for this opposition to Gandhi, who had been one of the first Indian leaders to call for the abolition of untouchability and discrimination.

Gandhi had a more positive, arguably romanticised view of traditional village life in India and a sentimental approach to the untouchables, calling them Harijan (children of God) and saying he was "of" them. Ambedkar rejected the epithet "Harijan" as condescending. He tended to encourage his followers to leave their home villages, move to the cities, and get an education.

Criticism and legacy

Ambedkar's legacy as a socio-political reformer, had a deep effect on modern India. In post-Independence India his socio-political thought has acquired respect across the political spectrum. His initiatives have influenced various spheres of life and transformed the way India today looks at socio-economic policies, education and affirmative action through socio-economic and legal incentives. His reputation as a scholar led to his appointment as free India's first law minister, and chairman of the committee responsible to draft a constitution. He passionately believed in the freedom of the individual and criticised equally both orthodox casteist Hindu society. His polemical condemnation of Hinduism and its foundation of caste system, made him controversial, although his conversion to Buddhism sparked a revival in interest in Buddhist philosophy in India and abroad.

Dr. Ambedkar condemned Gandhi's support for Hindu caste system and perpetuating untouchability. Dr.Ambedkar warned people,"Don't call Gandhi a saint. He is a seasoned politician. When everything else fails, Gandhi will resort to intrigue." "Don't fall under Gandhi's spell, he's not God... Mahatmas have come and Mahatmas have gone but untouchables have remained untouchables."

Ambedkar's political philosophy has given rise to a large number of Dalit political parties, publications and workers' unions that remain active across India, especially in Maharashtra. His promotion of the Dalit Buddhist movement has rejuvenated interest in Buddhist philosophy in many parts of India. Mass conversion ceremonies have been organized by Dalit activists in modern times, emulating Ambedkar's Nagpur ceremony of 1956.

Dr. Ambedkar also compared the hatred against the Scheduled Castes with apartheid and antisemitism.

Some scholars, including some from the affected castes, took the view that the British were more even-handed between castes, and that continuance of British rule would have helped to eradicate many evil practices. This political opinion was shared by quite a number of social activists including Jyotirao Phule.

Some, in modern India, question the continued institution of reservations initiated by Ambedkar as outdated and anti-meritocratic.


Aftermath

Frequent violent clashes between Buddhist groups and orthodox Hindus have occurred over the years. When in 1994 a garland of shoes was hung around a statue of Ambedkar in Mumbai, sectarian violence and strikes paralyzed the city for over a week. When the following year similar disturbances occurred, a statue of Ambedkar was destroyed. Upper-caste groups in Tamil Nadu have also engaged in violence against Buddhists[citation needed]. In addition, some Dalits who had converted to Buddhism have rioted against Hindus (such as the 2006 Dalit protests in Maharashtra) and desecrated Hindu temples, often incited into doing so by anti-Hindu elements and replacing deities with pictures of Ambedkar[11]. The radical Ambedkarite "Dalit Panthers Movement" has even gone so far as to attempt to assassinate academics who have been critical of Ambedkar's understanding of Buddhism.[12]

Film

Jabbar Patel directed the English-language movie (also dubbed in Hindi and other Indian languages)Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar [2] about the life of Ambedkar, released in 2000, starring the Indian actor Mammootty as Ambedkar. Sponsored by India's National Film Development Corporation and the Ministry of Social Justice, the film was released after a long and controversial gestation period. Mammootty won the National Film Award for Best Actor for the role of Ambedkar, which he portrayed in this film.

Dr. David Blundell, professor of anthropology at UCLA and Historical Ethnographer, has established [3] a long-term project; a series of films and events that are intended to stimulate interest and knowledge about the social and welfare conditions in India. Arising Light is a film on the life on Dr B. R. Ambedkar and social welfare in India.

References

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  1. ^ Jaffrelot, Christophe (2005). Dr. Ambedkar and Untouchability: Fighting the Indian Caste System. New York: Columbia University Press. pp. 2. ISBN 0-231-13602-1. 
  2. ^ a b c d Pritchett, Frances. "In the 1890s" (PHP). http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00ambedkar/timeline/1890s.html. Retrieved on 2006-08-02. 
  3. ^ a b Pritchett, Frances. "In the 1900s" (PHP). http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00ambedkar/timeline/1900s.html. Retrieved on 2006-08-02. 
  4. ^ Pritchett. "Rajah, Rao Bahadur M. C.". University of Columbia. http://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/projects/mmt/ambedkar/web/individuals/6750.html. Retrieved on 2009-01-05. 
  5. ^ Kothari, R. (2004). Caste in Indian Politics. Orient Blackswan. pp. 46. ISBN 8125006370, ISBN 9788125006374. 
  6. ^ a b c Pritchett, Frances. "In the 1930s" (PHP). http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00ambedkar/timeline/1930s.html. Retrieved on 2006-08-02. 
  7. ^ a b Pritchett, Frances. "In the 1940s" (PHP). http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00ambedkar/timeline/1940s.html. Retrieved on 2006-08-02. 
  8. ^ a b c d e f Ambedkar, Bhimrao Ramji (1946). "Chapter X: Social Stagnation". Pakistan or the Partition of India. Bombay: Thackers Publishers. pp. 215–219. 
  9. ^ a b c d Pritchett, Frances. "In the 1950s" (PHP). http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00ambedkar/timeline/1950s.html. Retrieved on 2006-08-02. 
  10. ^ http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2005/03/20/fea31.html
  11. ^ Shalini Ramachandran,'Poisoned Bread': Protest in Dalit Short Stories,Race & Class, Vol. 45, No. 4, 27-44 (2004)
  12. ^ J. Kulkarni: Historical Truths & Untruths Exposed, Itihas Patrika Prakashan,1991, esp. Ch.1, "Ambedkar and His 'Dhamma'", and Ch.2, "False Notions of Atrocities Committed on Harijans".

Further reading

  • Mahar, Buddhist. Religious Conversion and Socio-Political Emancipation by Johannes Beltz, 2005, New Delhi, Manohar.
  • Reconstructing the World: B.R. Ambedkar and Buddhism in India edited by Johannes Beltz and S. JondhaleNew Delhi: OUP.
  • Dr. Ambedkar and Untouchability: Analyzing and Fighting Caste by Christophe Jaffrelot (2005) ISBN 0-231-13602-1
  • Ambedkar and Buddhism by Urgyen Sangharakshita ISBN 0-904766-28-4
  • Ambedkar: Towards an Enlightened India by Gail Omvedt ISBN 0-670-04991-3
  • Life of Babasaheb Ambedkar by C. Gautam, Published by Ambedkar Memorial Trust, London, Milan House, 8 Kingsland Road, London E2 8DA Second Edition, May 2000
  • Thus Spoke Ambedkar Vol-I* (Selected Speeches of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar) Compiled and edited by Bhagwan Das, published by Dalit Today Parkashan,18/455,Indira Nagar, Lucknow (U.P.)India-226016
  • Revival of Buddhism in India and Role of Dr. BabaSaheb B.R. Ambedkar by Bhagwan Das, published by Dalit Today Prakashan,18/455,Indira Nagar, Lucknow (U.P.)India-226016
  • Dr. Ambedkar: A Critical Study by W.N. Kuber, published by People's Publishing House, New Delhi, India.
  • Dr Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar : Anubhav Ani Athavani by Bhaskar Laxman Bholay, A Sahitya Akademi translation award winning book, 2001, Nagpur
  • Dr. Ambedkar: Life and Mission by Dhananjay Keer published by Popular Prakashan, Mumbai, India.
  • Economic Philosophy of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar by M.L. Kasare published by B.I. Publications Pvt. Ltd.,New Delhi, India.
  • The Legacy Of Dr. Ambedkar by D.C. Ahir published by B.R.Publishing Corporation, Delhi-110007,India. (ISBN 81-7018-603-X Code No. L00522)
  • Ajnat, Surendra: Ambedkar on Islam. Buddhist Publ., Jalandhar 1986.
  • Fernando, W. J. Basil: Demoralisation and Hope: Creating the Social Foundation for Sustaining Democracy -- A comparative study of N. F. S. Grundtvig (1783 -1872) Denmark and B. R. Ambedkar (1881-1956) India. AHRC Publication., Hong Kong 2000. (ISBN 962-8314-08-4)
  • http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00ambedkar/ambedkar_partition/index.html Pakistan or the Partition of India

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