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Mr. Vice-President: The Honourable Member wants to knowfrom you what is the meaning of serfdom.

Shri Damodar Swarup Seth: It is a form of servitude orI may say, `slavery' that prevails in States.

Mr. Vice-President: Probably it is his idea withrespect to this distinction between serfdom and servitude.

The next three amendments are Nos. 546, 547 and 548, ofwhich the most comprehensive is No. 546, standing in thename of Prof. K. T. Shah.

Prof. K. T. Shah (Bihar. General): Sir, I move:

"That in clause (1) of article 17, for the words`Traffic in human beings and begar', the words `Traffic inhuman beings or their dedication in the name of religion to be Devadasis or be subject to other forms of enslavement anddegradation and begar' be substituted."

Shrimati G. Durgabai (Madras: General): Mr. Vice-President, let me assure you that I will take up only one ortwo minutes of the valuable time of the Assembly. I want tosay a few words on this article. There is the amendment ofProfessor Shah intended to substitute in clause (1) `Trafficin human beings or their dedication in the name of religionto be Devadasis or be subject to other forms of enslavementand degradation as well as begar', for the words `Traffic inhuman beings and begar.' Sir, if any province has suffered from this badpractice of dedication of devadasis in the name of religion,it is the province of Madras. The worst form of this customexisted in madras for a long time. I do not know whetherthis custom of dedication exists in any other province inany form. But we all know that in several ways this waspractised. But, I do not think, while appreciating theobject of Professor Shah in bringing forward this amendmentand while being thankful to him for having realised thenecessity for removing this evil, that this amendment isnecessary. madras has already prohibited this practice undera law passed a few years ago. It is no more in vogue there.Though some relics of that system still exist, these, I amsure, will disappear in course of time. I should mention in this connection my appreciation of the efforts put in byreformers like Mrs. Muthulakshmi Reddi. It is mainly onaccount of her efforts that this evil is no more there. Ourdeep debt of gratitude is due to her for her efforts. As Isaid, Madras has passed a law prohibiting this custom. I donot therefore think it necessary to include this provisionin article 13, although I very much appreciate the spiritwhich has actuated Professor Shah to move this amendment.

Shri H. V. Kamath: Has Shrimati Durgabai given noticeof any amendment to this article, Sir?

Mr. Vice-President: She has not.

Shri B. Das: She has sent in one to Dr. Ambedkar.

Mr. Vice-President: I have no knowledge of it.

Shri B. Das: I am sorry, I misunderstood. However, I think we will not be justifying our constitution onfundamental rights if we do not accept and admit our greatsins by including the words "traffic in women" and try tosave the situation now and hereafter.

Shri Raj Bahadur (United State of Matsya): Mr. vice-President, Sir, begar like slavery has a dark and dismalhistory behind it. As a man coming from an Indian State, I know what this begar, this extortion of forced labour, hasmeant to the down-trodden and dumb people of the IndianStates. If the whole story of this begar is written, it willbe replete, with human misery, human suffering, blood andtears. I know how some of the Princes have indulged in theirpomp and luxury, in their reckless life, at the expense of the ordinary man, how they have used the down-troddenlabourers and dumb ignorant people for the sake of theirpleasure. I know for instance how for duck shooting a verylarge number of people are roped in forcibly to stand allday long in mud and slush during cold chilly wintry days. I know how for the sake of their game and people have beenroped in large numbers for beating the lion so that thePrinces may shoot it. I have also seen how poor people areemployed for domestic and other kinds of labour, no matterwhether they are ailing or some members of their family areill. These people are paid nothing or paid very little for the labour extorted from them. This is not the whole story.As I said in the beginning, it would make really a terriblereading if the whole story is told. I know that very oftenthese tyrannies are perpetrated upon poor people by thepetty officials. Not only do these petty officialsperpetrate such tyrannies but they also extort bribes fromthe labourers who want to escape the curse of this begar.While making my observations on this article, I would liketo say that I am opposed to the amendment which has beenmoved by Sardar Bhopindra Singh Man providing forcompensation in case of compulsory labour on works forpublic purposes, because I feel that there is a possibilitythat, if this amendment is accepted, it may be misused andpeople might be forced against their will.

Summing up, I may add that article 13 constitutes thecharter of freedom for the common man, and this article is asort of complement to that charter of freedom. This freesthe poor, down-trodden and dumb people of the Indian.

States--I cannot say anything of other provinces--from thiscurse of begar. This begar has been a blot on humanity andhas been a denial of all that has been good and noble inhuman civilisation. Through the centuries this curse hasremained as a dead weight on the shoulders of the common manlike the practice of slavery. The members of the Drafting Committee and this Constituent Assembly are entitled to thegrateful thanks of the dumb downtrodden millions who wouldbe freed by this article from this curse of begar.