What is the Poona Pact ?

Source: Wikipedia

The Poona Pact is the political agreement that B.R. Ambedkar and Gandhiji reached on 24 September 1932, at Yerwada Central Jail in Poona about the political representation of the Depressed Classes, the incident in history is known as the Poona Pact.

Historical background of the Poona Pact:

• A distinct electorate for the "Depressed Classes," Muslims, Europeans, Sikhs, Anglo-Indians, and Christians residing in India was established by the Communal Award, which British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald announced on August 16, 1932.
• Mahatma Gandhi was vehemently against the communal prize because he saw it as a continuation of the British imperialists' ongoing attempts to weaken the national movement and split Indians into many special interest groups.
• Ambedkar initially supported the prize because he believed that political remedies, such as a separate electorate, would help the lower classes. Nevertheless, following a series of talks, Ambedkar and Gandhiji agreed on the Poona Pact, eliminating the separate electorate for the lower classes.

Poona Pact Important Features

• On Gandhi's behalf, Madan Mohan Malaviya signed the Poona Pact.
• The British allotted 80 seats, but the depressed classes received 147 places instead.
• The Depressed Classes would be granted privileged seats in provincial legislatures. The total number of Provincial Council members was used to determine the number of seats. 
• The number of seats reserved for the provinces was 30 for Madras, 8 for Punjab, 14 for Bombay with Sindh, 20 for the Central Provinces, 18 for Bihar and Orissa, 30 for Bengal, 7 for Assam and 20 for the United Provinces. So, in total, there were 147 reserved seats.
• The Depressed Classes would be granted 19% of the seats in the Central Legislature.
• The education of the Depressed Classes would get a specific amount of funding from the educational grant in each province.

What is a Separate Electorate?

A separate electorate means that only members of specific communities would be able to vote to elect a representative to the legislative assembly under the system, with other caste Hindus excluded from voting.

Significance of the Poona Pact

• The Poona Pact gave the lower classes in the assembly twice as many reserved seats (147) as the Communal Award had permitted.
• Ambedkar agreed to allow a joint electorate to choose candidates from the lower castes as part of the agreement with Mahatma Gandhi.
• In the Poona Pact, the Hindu upper classes acknowledged that the impoverished classes faced the greatest discrimination in Indian society.

Gandhiji and Ambedkar's Differences

• The Varnashrama order and the caste system were not something Gandhi favored ending. Concerning the negative aspects of the caste system, he supported changing social norms rather than completely ending it.
• Ambedkar believed that the caste system should be eliminated because it could not be improved.
• Gandhi's approach was grounded in spirituality and faith, whereas Ambedkar's approach was rights-based.
• Ambedkar created the word "Dalits" to give them a political identity, but Gandhi called the lower classes "Harijan" to stir up spirituality and make the upper caste aware of their predicament.

The Poona Pact represented a collision between two opposing viewpoints: Gandhi's emphasis on caste transformation through social and spiritual methods, and Ambedkar's concentration on caste as a political issue. Ambedkar maintained that political democracy is useless without the equal participation of the oppressed classes.