Shri Y. B. Chavan : in Not in the centre. I tried to do in Maharashtra in 1957. At that time we had consulted a great economist Dr. D. R. Gadgil about it and in consultation with him we had evolved a method and handed it over to some other private but efficient management who had some experience. It was the Narsinghagiri Mill in Sholapur about which you all know. The man improved the Working but under the compulsions of the law and the Constitution we had to return the mill back to the old owner. After two years it came back to the same position. So it became a sick patient and it became a matter of taking a sick patient improving him and handing him over back to be again exploited and become sick again. Naturally, therefore, it was necessary for the government to make certain departures or take certain new initiatives and take over the mills, because it was necessary to have modernisation and certain new investments had to be made. That was very useful and socially very important investment because in the sick industry there are two aspects of which one is production and the other is the employment. Here what you are doing is that you are allowing one company to amalgamate into another. If you see the actual working of it, it is only allowing accounts of one company to be amalgamated into another so that he can take all the advantage under the taxation laws and completely disregard the manpower that was employed before. If you are very clear about it, and you are saying very cogently that you are particular about the employment aspect of it, then why don’t you accept our amendments? They are very simple amendments. Why are you ashamed of accepting it? You are saying more and more, that ‘we are committed to the employment of the people.’ If you mean it, then we want a legal commitment on your part. But you do not want to accept our amendments because you do not mean it ..... (Interruptions) I am talking of hon. Member Mr. Sonu Singh Patil. He and I come from the same State. He and I belonged to the same Party then he and I had to fight the same fight of one such textile mill in his own home town. He remembers that. This is essentially a point of employment. If you are very keen about it and if you are really very sincere about it, please accept the amendments.
One of the observation that was made by the Finance Minister was that we are doing it to pose, as if we are the protectors of the people. Well, if we are not posing, then you are posing. If we pose, you should also pose. What is wrong about it? Trying to take a position and serving the people and honestly meaning what one is saying that is the business of a political party. What is wrong about it? It is the business of a political Party. Political parties are meant for that. They should not merely pose it, they should act on it. That is why we are insisting on these amendments. We are testing your sincerity.
I am mentioning the issues. We are not merely trying that in technical sense of pressing. We are not merely pressing the amendments. We are pressing important issues and we want to have your reaction from you on them.
