THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY December 24, 1955

of the 'employment offset', (E 0), ing were neutralized by the increased increased employment. At the end would be Ec — Eb X 100 = EO* quantum of employment varied from of the war, Bombay wage-earners Co — Cb region to region. To illustrate, from were least affected and wage-earn­ With the help of the above for­ the viewpoint of cost of living alone, ers of Madras were slightly worse; mula, an attempt has been made in U P labour was the worst suffer­ Bengal wage-earners were worst Table IV to calculate Eo at the er, that of Bengal being moderately affected, those of U. P. being only end of the war in relation to the pre­ better off, that of Madras though slightly better. war level. This formula can serve least affected over the whole span our purpose only so long as Cc is of the war was only slightly better greater than Cb. For instance, it off than labour in Bombay in 1945. will fail when the two are equal in However, when looking at employ­ which case the resultant denomina­ ment offset, we find that the position tor and E O become equal to zero. of Bengal was the worst, the E O for Its application is thus confined to a Bengal being 19 as against 38 for single base series rather than a chain U P. Madras wage-earners who index series. suffered practically to the same ex­ Apart from the general indication tent as those of Bombay on account of increased cost of living could *The author is indebted to the late that during the war period there was Prof. J. N. Das Gupta for his gui­ an appreciable increase in the secure the benefit of E O only to the extent of 37 against 50 in Bombay. dance in the framing of this for­ volume of employment along with mula. the rise of cost of living in different Thus the relative position of wage- Ec = Employment Index in 1945 industrial centres, Table IV shows earners in the four regions as indi­ Eb = Employment in 1930; Cc = Cost no single homogenous trend in the cated by the relative variations in of living in 1945; Cb = Cost of living relationship between the two varia­ the cost of living indices during the Index in 1939; Eo — Employment bles. The extent to which hardships course of the war was substantially offset. involved in the increased cost of liv­ altered as a result of the impact of

Views on States Reorganisation -VIII Bombay as Capital of Maharashtra G K Cholkar THERE are only two proposals of must, of course, be considered the The disadvantages of incorporat­ practical importance: advantages. ing Bombay City in Maharashtra (l) Bombay as the capital of a were vividly brought out by Shri K Apart from advantages and dis­ new linguistic State, Maha­ M Munshi in a note on "Linguistic advantages, it might seem also rashtra, and Provinces and the Future of Bom­ necessary to see to whom Bombay (ii) Bombay City as a separate bay" which he wrote in 1943 for the City "belongs", but such an exami­ State by itself. Dar Committee. From that, the nation would hardly be worthwhile. following may be quoted: These two proposals are not of the In whatever way the future of Bom­ same status. The first is an inde­ bay is settled, the City must really To annex the Bombay City to pendent demand for a new territorial "belong" to the nation as a whole. United Maharashtra formed on arrangement. The second is a con­ There is one point, however to which linguistic basis, therefore, would ditional proposal. Those who make attention may be drawn. The fact have the result not only of de­ it have nothing against the existing that those who prefer a City State stroying the cosmopolitan charac­ arrangements. They suggest that if would equally favour continuing the ter of Bombay but of placing the the existing Bombay State is to be existing arrangements implies that non-Marathi speaking population broken up for forming new linguistic they do not want a City State be­ in cultural subjection. States of Gujarat, Maharashtra and cause, in their opinion, Bombay Karnatak, the City be dissociated "belongs" to the people of the City. Those in charge of industry, from this scheme and incorporated On the other hand, those who make trade and finance in the city of into a separate State. It would also the other proposal include many who of Bombay and its suburbs are be true to say that the break-up is believe that Bombay City "belongs" predominantly non-Maharashtrians opposed (by those who oppose it) to Maharashtra. From this, one .... Serious apprehensions are chiefly because it might involve as­ conclusion as regards future possibi­ entertained in various quarters re­ signing the City to one of the three lities may be drawn. If Bombay is garding the possibility of the do­ new linguistic States. made a City State, those who con­ mination of a uni-lingual people in the life of Bombay City in case It sider this "unjust" would always This makes it clear that there is is to be joined to a linguistic pro­ labour under this sense of "injustice". no need to consider the advantages vince. of a separate City State for Bombay But if Bombay became the capital as compared with the present posi­ of Maharashtra, there is a possibi­ If Bombay City is hand­ tion. It is necessary to consider only lity that those who oppose it now ed over to Maharashtra alone, the the disadvantages of the City being may be less opposed to it in future City .... will lose its multi-lin­ the capital of a new linguistic State to the extent that the disadvantages gual character, its trade, industry as compared with the present posi­ resulting therefrom prove to be less and commerce will be seriously tion of the City. Against them, than anticipated now. affected; and the non-Marathi 1523 December 24, 1955 THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY

speaking majority will be subjected Hindi but must hot to every case in­ allots grafts to states, should show to the political domination of ag­ sist on a knowledge of the regional special consideration for states gressive lingulsm. language, Where necessary, em­ which incur substantial expenditure These are very serious matters. ployees who do not know the regi­ on providing educational ' and cultural In regard to them, two observations onal language may, however, be facilities for the language minorities may be made. First, assuming that made to learn it in their territories." the protagonists of a new Mahara­ "In its relations with business a In the economic sphere also, the shtra State include some mischief State Government should not be able Constitution empowers the Centre mongers, there would he others who to introduce considerations of domi­ to take measures to protect the na­ are as anxious to avoid results of cile, language or the like. It should tional interest against prejudical the kind apprehended by Shri Munshi be wrong to flay that a business con­ actions of State Governments. as he himself is. Secondly, it is not cern should give larger employment Conclusion as regards disadvantages really a question of what Mahara­ to "local" people or conduct its busi­ shtra would do to Bombay City but ness in a particular language. If the leaders of different Stated what any State Government can in collaboration with the Central constitutionally do to damage the "Fortunately, the Constitution not Government, evolve an all-India economic life of a city or to violate merely makes all this possible but policy for the protection of the cul- the rights of cultural minorities. This Indeed visualises it The spirit of tural rights of minorities and for latter problem is a very important the Constitution must live and in- the preservation of economic unity problem and it was discussed from spire leaders everywhere, but it is and If the Centre for the same an all-India point of view by a up to the Centre, if necessary to en­ objects makes proper use of the Bombay journal, the Tata Quarterly, force the required fiction. Money powers it has under the Constitution long before the fierce controversies spent in being generous to minorities then apprehensions of the kind ex­ raised by States Reorganisation put serves a great national purpose and pressed by Shri Munshi and others these into cold storage for the time the Central Government, when it will not result. Then there will be being.

Linguistic Minorities, an all-India Problem The journal mentioned above, in its April 1954 issue, wrote: "The Commission would do well to give careful attention to the pro­ blem of linguistic or cultural mino­ rities and set out in detail the respon­ sibilities of a State towards them- It should be remembered that the problem has to be examined even if no new linguistic State is established because unilingual States like Ben­ gal, Bihar, Orissa already exist. The problem might be even more impor­ tant in Hindi speaking areas if there are people in such areas who con­ sider themselves to be more 'na­ tionalist'' than others because the national language happens to be their mother-tongue. The very ex' istence of several great languages in India raises the problem of minori­ ties and the best course is to face It squarely. "A State must provide as many schools as are required in order that almost every child could be taught in its mother tongue. In schools and colleges, Hindi must be compulsory, College education may be in the re- gional language, but in every city there must be at least one college which teaches and examines students in Hindi and which may be attended by any student irrespective of what his mother tongue is. A person should be entitled to receive a reply in the language used in his letter. "In recruiting staff, a State may insist on sufficient knowledge of

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no serious risk in allowing Bombay fact, the formation of culturally ho­ trially, it would do less than its duty City to be part of Maharashtra. mogenous States might provide some to the country If it did not contribute additional stimulus for economic de­ to the development of surrounding Advantages of Linguistic State velopment if it induces people to bear rural areas. Before considering the advantages larger sacrifices for common benefit of incorporating Bombay in Maha­ In view of the foregoing, if the and to collaborate more readily with rashtra, it is necessary to see if present Bombay State is to be broken the local Government with the same there are any national advantages up into separate States of Mahara­ object. Apart from this, the produc­ in redrawing State boundaries on a shtra, Gujarat and Karnatak, it is tion of technical and craft books in linguistic basis at all. This broad desirable to assign the City to any the regional languages, which will question has been examined carefully of the new States rather than make be encouraged as a result of the by the Tata Quarterly which sug­ it into a separate State by itself. As establishment of "linguistic" States, gests that the interests of India as between Maharashtra, Gujarat and will react favourably on the mate­ a whole may be said to comprise Karnatak, the City would more easily rial progress of the people" the following four basic objecti­ go to the first-named for two rea­ ves: The conclusion is that a linguistic sons: re-distribution of State boundaries (i) The City is contiguous to Ma- (i) We want State Governments would serve a great national purpose to actively pursue the econo­ rathi speaking areas on the main­ if the Centre, in collaboration with land. mic development of their re­ the States, takes adequate measures (ii) The largest single language gions and, for this purpose, for safeguarding the national inte­ group in the City is Marathi. Ac­ use the powers they have in a rest in economic and cultural life. manner fair to other States cording to the Census of 1951, out and without detriment to the Advantages of Incorporating Bom­ of the total population of 2.8 million national economic unity. bay in Maharashtra in Greater Bombay, the mother ton­ gue of 1.2 million is Marathi. Guja­ (ii) We want the various regional A preliminary clarification may be rat!, the next largest language group, cultures to flourish and there­ made. A linguistic State, once is spoken by only half a million. by provide for the evolution it is formed, will be like any other of a national culture. State in regard to the powers the "New Look" for Bombay Government has or the rights the (iii) We want the recognised Bombay City as the capital of citizens enjoy. Though initially a regional language to deve­ Maharashtra would be a little differ­ State is formed on the basis of the lop sufficiently to meet the ent from what it is now, but it would principal language spoken in its requirements of modern life be different in a constructive sense area, such a State need not be called and we want Hindi to become It would make a more conscious and "linguistic" all the time. In fact, the national language. purposive contribution to the deve­ even if in future the composition of lopment of the culture and the eco­ (iv) We do not want "linguism" language groups In the border areas nomy of Maharashtra. Non-Maha- to be a continuing force in or in cities like Bombay changes, rashtrians might come to know Ma- political affairs. there is going to be no second revi­ harashtrians a little better and the For the realization of these objec­ sion of boundaries on a language proportion of them having some tives, it is desirable to entrust State basis. knowledge of Marathi may increase. Governments with responsibility In one part, the advantages to be But there should not be any fewer for the development of regional lan­ considered here are the advantages opportunities for the development of guages and cultures while it is left of including Bombay in a large State other cultures on the basis of mu­ to the Centra to provide facilities for in which there are also rural areas tual respect. The Maharashtrians in the fusion of regional cultures by as against incorporating the City the City are keenly conscious of the such means as cheapening railway into a separate State by itself. The desirability of the City proving to travel and the promotion of national advantages are social, economic and be a generous host to people coming language. In view of this, State political. "As a city and the neigh­ from different parts of India, both boundaries should correspond to bouring countryside react favourably in the North and in the South, and divisions of the main distinctive re­ on each other in a number of ways, from other countries. gional cultures. Basically, therefore they should advisably be in a com­ If Bombay is made a separate City the lay-out should be a linguistic mon political entity, the State." Con­ State, then too the City would tend lay-out inasmuch as a regional lan­ servatives should remember that a to be different from the city as we guage represents a cultural pattern. City State, which includes a large know it to-day. As a wholly urban Sometimes it is suggested that in­ industrial population, will probably area catering solely to its own re­ stead of linguistic States, there be more radical or leftist than a quirements, the City might acquire should be "economic" States. This State which comprises both urban some charms of Hongkong. But is a myth. Economic factors can­ and rural areas. A part of the re­ Hongkong, which is the melting pot not by themselves yield a unique venue raised in a city in Sales Tax of the cultures of every nation in the pattern of territorial divisions which goes for the development of agricul­ world, has no constructive side of may be taken to be the best. Fur­ ture, irrigation, etc. in rural areas. its own. The direction which Bom­ ther, to quote the same source, "there This is indeed as it should be. Under bay as the capital of Maharashtra is no necessary conflict between "lin­ the Constitution, a State Govern­ will take will be more constructive. guistic" States and States capable ment has important responsibilities Bombay will still remain a city be­ of shouldering their economic res­ in regard to rural life and these longing to India or in fact an inter, ponsibilities. Provided the broad cri­ cannot be discharged adequately if national city, but it will have some­ teria of the kind suggested above the cities claim separate state-hoods thing of its own just as Paris, which are satisfied, "linguistic" States could for themselves. However well Bom. is very much a world-city, is still a do well in the economic field too. In bay as a City State advances indus­ French city. 1525 December 24, 1995 THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY

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