Communal Award

Communal Award

     In August 1932, Ramsay MacDonald, the British Prime Minister, introduced a plan for the representation of minorities known as the Communal Award. This award not only maintained separate electorates for Muslims, Sikhs, Indian Christians, Anglo-Indians, and Europeans but also extended this provision to the depressed classes (Scheduled Castes). Mahatma Gandhi was deeply disheartened by this expansion of communal representation to the depressed classes and undertook a fast unto death in Yerawada Jail (Pune) to advocate for a modification of the award.

     Ultimately, an agreement was reached between the leaders of the Congress and the representatives of the depressed classes, known as the Poona Pact. This agreement preserved the Hindu joint electorate and allocated reserved seats for the depressed classes.