REGISTERED No. D. 221
The Gazette of India
EXTRAORDINARY
PARTII—Section2
PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY
No. 59] NEW DELHI, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11, 1970/AGRAHAYANA 30, 1891
Separate paging is given to this Part in order that it may be filed
as aseparatecompilation
RAJYA SABHA
The following Bills were introduced in the Rajya Sabha on the 11th December, 1970:—
BILL NO. XXXVIII OF 1970
A bill further to amend the Constitution of India
BE it enacted by Parliament in the Twenty-first Year of the Republic of India as follows: —
1. (I) This Act may be called the Constitution (Amendment) Act, 1970
Short title and extent (2) It extends to the whole of India except the State of Jammu and Kashmir.
2. After article 29 of the Constitution, the following article shall be inserted, namely: —
Insertion
of new
article
29A.
"29A. Every citizen of India until he completes the age of four- teen years shall have the right to free and compulsory education."
Right to
free and
compul-
sory edu-
cation.
3. Article 45 of the Constitution of India shall be omitted
Omission
of article
45.
( 1335 )
!^6 THE GAZETTE OF INDIA EXTRAORDINARY [PART II—STATEMENT OF OBJECTS AND REASONS
Education is the basic need of a human being and it is widely accepted that right to have education should be a fundamental right which should not be denied to any human being. In our Constitution a number of Fun- damental Rights have been incorporated but the right to education does not find a place therein. Article 45 of th" Directive Principles of State Policy has not been implemented with seriousness by the State Govern- ment and the Centre as well.
As a result, it has been converted into a mere pious wish. Even after two decades of independence in our country, the number of illiterate and aut-of-school children is the largest in the world. To cope with this situation and to keep pace with the economic development in the country the role of functional literacy is unique. To accelerate the rate of lite- racy it is deemed necessary to make education free, universal and com- pulsory. The proposed Bill seeks to achieve this object.
PRANAB KUMAR MUKHERJEE
SEC. 2] THE GAZETTE OF INDIA EXTRAORDINARY 1337FINANCIAL MEMORANDUM
Clause 8 of the Bill directs the Government to provide for free, compul- sory and universal education. This will involve considerable expenditure from the Consolidated Fund of India, which is expected to be of the order of rupees 25 crores per year.
1338 THE GAZETTE OF INDIA EXTRAORDINARY [PART II—BILL NO. XXVII OF 1970
A bill further to amend the Constitution of India.
BE it enacted by Parliament In the Twenty-first year of the Republic
of India as follows:—
1. (1) This Act may be called the Constitution (Amendment) Act,
1970.
Short title and com- mence- ment.
(2) It shall come into force on such date as the Central Government
may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.
2. After article 16 of the Constitution, the following article shall be Insertion of new article 16A.
inserted, namely: —
"16A. Every citizen above eighteen years of age shall have the right to employment and in the event of his failure to procure eny employment, he shall be entitled to an unemployment allowance to be paid by the State at such rate as may be prescribed by the Gov- ernment concerned from time to time by public notification."
Right of employ- ment and un employ, ment allowance.
SEC. 2] THE GAZETTE OF INDIA EXTRAORDINARY 1339STATEMENT OF OBJECTS AND REASONS
Article 39 (a) which occurs in Part IV of the Constitution enjoins upon the State to direct its policy towards securing the citizens, men and women equally, the right to an adequate means of livelihood. Mainly be- cause the provisions of Part IV are not justiciable, the State has done precious little so far towards fulfilling this directive. The present dis- pensation which does not guarantee the right to employment, is slowly and imperceptibly corroding the people's faith and confidence in the pre- sent set-up and leading the country to the brink of a cataclysm. The Directive Principles of State Policy are certainly not meant to be plati- tudes but the corner-stone, the substratum and the nucleus of the State activity. This Bill, therefore, seeks to guarantee the right to employ- ment and make it justiciable.
SHYAM LAL YADAV.
1340 THE GAZETTE OF INDIA EXTRAORDINARY [PART II—SEC. 2]FINANCIAL MEMORANDUM
Clause 2 of the Bill provides for unemployment allowance to those citizens who fail to procure any employment for themselves. It will In- volve annual recurring expenditure for the Union Government in respect of citizens remaining unemployed in Union territories, the exact estimate of which, in the absence of any authoritative figure of unemployment, cannot be worked out. Further, the rate of unemployment allowance would vary from time to time and from State to State. However, it is expected that the annual recurring expenditure on this account is not likely to exceed Rs. 60 crores so far as the Central Government is con- cerned. As regards the expenditure that would be Incurred by the State Governments on this account is concerned, it Is not possible to give even an approximate estimate of the amount involved.
The Bill does not involve any non-recurring expenditure.