If the Dr. B.R Ambedkar would have been born in a Upper caste family in India ,
people of upper Caste would have erected millions of temple in his name : but
alas people of India specially upper Caste just want to kill his ideas everyday , but even the desperate effort of
Upper caste people Dr. Ambedkar is
alive and his idea of revolution and salvation from the caste atrocities has
been motivation the Indian Youth no matter he is from upper caste or lower caste , now youths are following him
in order to make a better and modern India .
Here are some great historical illustrations which he
painted by his noble mind he is the
first Indian who wanted to free women from the tyranny clutches of Brahminism
and Manusimriti and give them the equal
and special rights .. the polluted mind of historian on maternity benefit act totally ignore his ground and end
work on Maternity benefit act
Early History and Effort by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar
Maternity
Benefit Act:
I don't know how many Indian women knows the contribution of
Revolutionary Dr.Babasaheb Ambedkar's major role for the Maternity Benefits
bill in the Bombay legislature in July, 1928 itself for the factory
women workers. In fact it was the first Maternity Benefits Act passed in India
in 1929
by the Bombay legislature.
On this regard he said, "I believe that it is in the
interests of the nation that the mother ought to get a certain amount of rest
during the pre-natal period and also subsequently. I am prepared to admit this
fact because the conservation of the people's welfare is primarily the concern
of the Government. And in every country, therefore, where the maternity benefit
has been introduced, you will find that the Government has been subjected to a
certain amount of charge with regard to maternity benefit. I think, therefore,
the benefits contemplated by this bill ought to be given by this Legislature to
the poor women who toil in our factories in this Presidency."
Subsequently the Madras Maternity Benefit Act was passed by
the Madras Legislature Council in 1934 and subsequently in other
provinces of India.
As a Labour Minister in the Viceroy executive council
between 1942 and 1946, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar was
instrumental in bringing the Mines Maternity Benefit Bill for women in all over
India. Under this act, a woman working in the mine is entitled to maternity
benefit for a period of 8 weeks. This period of 8 weeks
is divided into two parts of four weeks each, one part preceding delivery and
another part succeeding delivery.
Later all the acts of Maternity Benefit of various states
were repealed and a common Maternity Benefit Act-1961 was
adopted by the Central Government for all states in India.
2) Equal pay for equal work
irrespective of the sex:
Revolutionary Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar was the first person
who brought "Equal pay for equal work irrespective of the sex" in
India in terms of Industrial workers as a
Labour Minister in the Viceroy executive council.
Dr. Ambedkar started his movement in 1920. He
stated “We shall see better days soon and our progress will be greatly
accelerated if male education is persuaded side by side with female education.
Dr. Babasaheb spent his life for the betterment of women even involved in bad
practices and professionals like prostitutions. The greatest example of it was
seen in Kamathipura. There was a person named David who was the mediator
working in brothel. He left his profession persuaded by the thoughts and
teachings of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar. He evoked the entire prostitute to give up
their profession and lead the life of honour. In the Manu Smriti, Manu not only
shows contempt for women but goes on to degrade them as slaves, devoid of
intellect; denies them the right of education and the right to property; and
forbids them from performing sacrifices. Being India‟s first Law minister and
chairman of drafting Committee of the Constituent Assembly, Dr. Ambedkar
thought it appropriate, rather his duty, to free women from the age old
thralldom by reforming the Hindu social laws created by Manu. He, therefore,
took initiative to draft and introduce the Hindu Code Bill in the Constituent
Assembly. Dr. Ambedkar tried an adequate inclusion of women‟s right in the
political vocabulary and constitution of India is
Constitutional rights
to women
1. Article14 - Equal
rights and opportunities in political, economic and social spheres 2.Article
15
prohibits discrimination on the ground of sex. 3. Article 15(3) enables
affirmative discrimination in favour of women. Article 39 –
Equal means of livelihood and equal pay for equal work. 4. Article
42
– Human conditions of work and maternity relief. 5.Article
51
(A) (C) – Fundamental duties to renounce practices, derogatory to the
dignity of women. 6.Article 46 – The
state to promote with special care, the educational and economic interests of
weaker section of people and to protect them from social injustice and all
forms of exploitation. 7.Article 47 – The
state to raise the level of nutrition and standard of living of its people and
the improvement of public health and so on. Article 243D (3),
243T
(3) &
243R
(4) provides
for allocation of seats in the Panchayati Raj System
The Hindu Code Bill, the most formidable legislative measure
of modern India, sought among other reforms, to put an end to a variety of
marriage systems prevailing in India and legalise only monogamous marriages.
The Code also sought to confer on women the right of property and adoption
which had been denied by Manu. It put men and women on an equal level in all
legal matters. Dr. Ambedkar said, “I should like draw attention of the house to
one important fact. The great political philosopher Burke who wrote his great
book against the French Revolution said that those who want to conserve must be
ready to repair. And all I am asking this House is: If you want to maintain the
Hindu system, Hindu culture and Hindu society, do not hesitate to repair where
repair is necessary. This Bill asks for nothing more than to repair those parts
of the Hindu system which have become dilapidated”. In his letter of
resignation dated the 27 September, 1951 to
the Prime Minister, he wrote1 “For a long time I have been
thinking of resigning my seat from the Cabinet. The only thing that had held me
back from giving effect to my intention was the hope that it would be possible
to give effect to the Hindu Code Bill before the life of present Parliament
came to an end. I even agreed to break up the bill and restricted it to
Marriage and Divorce in the fond hope that atleast this much of our labour may
bear fruit. But even that part of Bill had been killed. I see no purpose in my
continuing to be a Member of your Cabinet”. The Hindu Code Bill was later split
in to four Bills, and the same were put on the Statue Book by Parliament. The
Hindu Marriage Act, 1955; The Hindu Succession Act, 1956;
The Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, 1956 and The Hindu Adoption
and Maintenance Act, 1956 are the four enactments which
incorporate the ideas and principles of Hindu
Code Bill formulated by Dr
Ambedkar.
Ambedkar’s defense for women as the Law Minister of free
India appeared in the form of the Hindu Code Bill in Parliament on 11th
April 1947, the Bill could not withstand the opposition from the
Hindu orthodoxy. Their major argument was that the Bill was an attempt at the
“demolition of the entire structure and fabric of Hindu Society. In reality,
the Bill was a threat to patriarchy on which traditional family structure, was
bounded and that was the major reason behind the opposition. The Bill sought to
abolish polygamy among the hindu's it proposed the right to property and the
right to divorce for women. The Bill tried to codify the Hindu Laws which were in a scattered
form. He proposed to reform these laws on seven different matters ,viz., i)the right to property
of a deceased Hindu dying intestate to both male and female, ii)the order of
succession among different heirs to the property of a deceased dying inestate,
iii)the law of maintenance, iv)marriage, v)divorce, vi)adoption, and
vii)minority guardianship.
Despite the very moderate nature of Bill ,Dr.
Ambedkar could not get it passed due to is opposition by many conservative
caste http://Hindus.In protest against the failure of the Bill,Dr.Ambedkar
resigned his seat in the cabinet. Although ,his efforts did not, entirely, go waste. Later, the original
Bill was split into four different Bills with slight changes. Those were passed as the Hindu
Marriage Act,1955; The Hindu Succession Act,1956;
the Hindu Minority
and Guardianship Act,1956; and the Hindu Adoption and
Maintenance http://Act1956.As Lord Casey said, Ambedkar
stands as the “fountainhead of wisdom and knowledge” in modern India.
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