COMMITTEES ISSUE REPORTS

Hokitika Guardian, 5 January 1931, Page 2

COMMITTEES ISSUE REPORTS

INDIAN CONFERENCE.

FRANCHISE AND FRONTIER PROBLEMS. (Official Wireless.) KUO BY, January 1. The Minorities Sub-Committee of the Indian Round Table Conference met this morning. The sub-commit-tee continued its discussion concerning the Hindu-Moslem differences. -On behalf of. the Hindus it was suggested that the method whereby the League of Nations had. dealt with European minorities questions offered a precedent for India. In dealing with European minorities, the. principle had been accepted that they should be so defined and treated as not to destroy the unity'of the State. The majority in India were prepared to give the minorities the greatest measures of- protection on the lines adopted by the League, and to give f-eedom for the exercise and development of their religion', tficq; language and culture. For the Moslem minority it was stated that the principle of weightage had been regarded as necessary throughout the history of the treatment of minorities in India-, and had worked well. The process of evolution might make point electorates possible, but meanwhile they relied., former pledges that separate electorates would remain unless relinquished,i.ypluntnrlly. As to the League of Nations’ prudent, conditions in India were entirely different.' , r The Franchise Sub-Committee and the North-West Frontier Province SubCommittee concluded their work today, and their reports are now ready for submission to the full committee of the Conference.

Basis of Suffrage. The franchise report states that, while members generally held that adult suffrage was the goal which should be ultimately attained, it was agrded 'that thei basis'of franchise .could forthwith be broadened. Some difference of opinion existed as to its extent, and the few members who. advocated ad.ult, suffrage,as an immediate measure dissented from recommendations less, drastic. The sub-committee recommended that an expert franchise commission be .appointed with instructions (to provide for an immediate increase of the electorate of not less than 10 per cent, but not more than 25- per cent of their total population. The present electorate is about 2.8 per cent, of the

population. It also recommended that a commit, ; introductidii of; '' a scfeme' whel'ebv all adults not ettf titled to a direct vote would be placed y . in groups of twenty for the election of i pne representative who would be en« vi;;,titled to vote in the provincial elec* • ; sssons either in the same constituencies directly qualified or in separate con* specially formed; / Antony oilier recommendations were \5, uniformity of Qualifications for the j ■franchise among . 01 l communities.: that |^ ; the property qualification should be t interpreted in its broadest sense; that t- } the possibility of regarding education an additional qualification should •be considered by the expert commission; that the military service qualification be extended to include .service Y ■ in the auxiliary and territorial’forces;; '[■' and tba.t any marked disparity• in the operation of the franchise between rural and Urban areas be adjusted. ;

Women Voters. /■: Regarding the enfranchisement of Y*; women, the sub-committee agreed that i a special qualification, be prescribed j and recommended that the Franchise ; Commission devote attention to the matter in the light of all evidence, ineluding the recommendations of the Statutory Commission.' A suggestion ,"-was made in sub-committee that the £"}?.?&© limit be twenty-one, not twenty* !' five. ’ It was considered desirable that each , provincial legislature extend its franchise .at-its ..discretion after a. lapse of tyjen years from the date of the intro-. duction of new constitutions. As the 1 , form of the central and federal lesis-, . lature is not yet decided, the sub-com-mittee found it impossible to make suggestions regarding a suitable franchise system.

Reform In The North-West. The report of the sub-committee on the North-west Frontier Province showed unanimity on the urgent need for reform. It recommends that the five administered districts should cease to be. as they are at present, a centrally administered territory under the direct control of the Government of India ; and that they should he given the status of a governor’s province, subject to such adjustment of detail as local circumstances require and the extent of All-Tndia interests in the province necessitate. If necessary, a snecia'ly constituted sub-committ D e should consider the precise discrimination of subjects between centre and province. Subject to the findings of such a body, the sub-committee contemplates that the charge of ordinary civil police in the, five administered . districts, excluding the frontier constabulary, will pass to the provincial government of these districts; hut, in f view of the close relation of the province with matters of defence and foreign policy, it considers it essential that all matters of All-Tndia importance and all matters Connected with ; the control of tribal tracts (for in-

stance frontier constabulary, frontier remissions and allowances, and strategic roads) should be excluded from the purview of the provincial government and classed as central subjects. The sub-committee recommends that fche~ executive ' consist' of a governor, assisted by, the advice of two ministers drawn from among the non-official members of the legislature, at least one of whom shall be elected. It recommended a um-cnmernl legislative council with a membership of not more than forty, consisting of elected and nominated elements, the latter pot to exceed fourteen out of forty. ’The sub-committee considers that, if Moslems receive a weightage in the provinces where they form a minority, Hindus and Sikhs should receive a weightage in the Frontier Province; and that their representation might be thrice the figure to which they are entitled on a population basis.