Communal Award

About Communal Award, 1932

• The Communal Award was announced by British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald on 16 August 1932.
• It introduced separate electorates for various religious and social communities in India.
• The communities given separate electorates included Muslims, Sikhs, Indian Christians, Anglo-Indians, Europeans and the Depressed Classes (Dalits).
• The Depressed Classes were recognized as a separate minority and were given 71 special seats in provincial legislatures.
• B.R. Ambedkar supported separate electorates for  Depressed Classes because he believed that Dalits needed their own political representatives to protect their interests.
  • Ambedkar believed that upper-caste leaders could not adequately represent the interests of Dalits.
• Mahatma Gandhi strongly opposed separate electorates for the Depressed Classes because he believed they would divide Hindu society permanently.
  • Gandhi argued that the problem of untouchability should be solved through social reform and unity, rather than through separate political representation.
  • Gandhi announced that he would undertake a fast unto death if separate electorates for the Depressed Classes were not withdrawn.
• Gandhi began his fast on 20 September 1932 in Poona.
• The disagreement between Gandhi and Ambedkar created a major political conflict over the political rights and representation of Dalits.
• After negotiations, Gandhi and Ambedkar signed the Poona Pact on 24 September 1932.
  • Under the Poona Pact, separate electorates for the Depressed Classes were abandoned.
  • Instead, the Depressed Classes were given reserved seats within joint electorates.
  • The number of reserved seats for the Depressed Classes in provincial legislatures was increased from 71 to 148.
  • The Poona Pact became a compromise between Gandhi’s demand for Hindu political unity and Ambedkar’s demand for greater political representation for Dalits.