The Reminiscences of Zafrulla Khan — Page 75
75 REMINISCENCES OF SIR MUHAMMAD ZAFRULLA KHAN better. I will be the Minister in charge and I assure you that I will be the person who will run the portfolio, for good or for ill. You might like it or you might not, but I can give you that assurance. "Now, let's go on to my possible attempt to ruin what is the government's largest asset. On that, what is your real worry? Tell me that. " He said, "Appointments. " I said, "Good. All initial appointments to the officer's grade are made as the result of a competitive examination held by the Public Service Commission. The Minister in charge has nothing to do with that. The Government has recently, mainly as a result of Sir Fazle Hussain's efforts, to which I was also able to contribute when I was officiating for him in 1932, adopted a resolution that to all senior services under the Government of India a recruitment of 25 percent Muslims shall be made. If 25 percent are not available, as a result of the competitive examination, then enough shall be selected from candidates who have qualified at that examination to make up the 25 percent by nomination. That is the Government's decision. I shall see that that decision is carried out on the Railways as elsewhere. Anything wrong with that?" "I have no objection to that. Naturally, the Government having made that decision, whether it is good or bad, it has to be carried out. " I said, "I know I shall be under constant pressure from the Muslim side to do more. It will be equally my duty to resist that pressure. I must carry out Government's decision, and I shall neither go beyond it by devious methods nor permit anybody to evade it, so far as I can prevent it. Is that satisfactory?" He said, "Oh, yes. That is quite above-board, that is quite satisfactory. I am with you on that. " I continued, "In the lower gazetted service, appointments are made on some proportionate ratio of communities in the different railways, by the heads of those railways called Agents. The Minister cannot interfere in those. So I do not come in with regard to those appointments. To the clerical staff I do not even know how appoint-ments are made. The Minister cannot interfere with those from the top, they are too far below. In any case there is no question there of ruining your best financial asset, because the only qualification that I can see which is needed by the clerical staff of the railways is that they should be able to speak and write bad English. I can assure you that the Muslims can speak and write as bad English as the non-Muslims. "