Which one among the following was demanded by the All India Depressed Classes Leaders’ Conference at Bombay in 1931?
Universal adult suffrage
Separate electorates for untouchables
Reserved seats for the minorities
A unitary State in India
Answer is Wrong!
Answer is Right!
This question was previously asked in
UPSC CDS-1 – 2020
In the period leading up to the Second Round Table Conference in 1931, the political representation of the Depressed Classes (Untouchables) was a highly contentious issue. Leaders of the Depressed Classes, particularly B.R. Ambedkar, strongly advocated for separate electorates for their community, similar to those granted to Muslims by the Morley-Minto Reforms. The All India Depressed Classes Leaders’ Conference in Bombay in 1931 would have articulated this primary demand to ensure adequate political power and representation for the untouchables, who faced severe social discrimination.
The demand for separate electorates for the Depressed Classes was a key point of contention at the Second Round Table Conference (1931) and led to the Communal Award announced by the British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald in 1932, which granted separate electorates to the Depressed Classes. This was opposed by Mahatma Gandhi, leading to his fast unto death and the eventual Poona Pact (1932), where Depressed Classes accepted reserved seats in the general electorate instead of separate electorates.