Question

Which of the following statement is not correct about the Poona pact?
A) It was agreed between Mahatma Gandhi and Dr Ambedkar
B) It was signed on January 23. 1932
C) It was signed in Arvada jail in Puna
D) This act increased the number of seats reserved for the depressed class from 71 to 148

Answer 1

Hint: The Poona Pact was a pact amongst Hindu leaders in India that granted Dalits (low-caste Hindu groups then known as "untouchables") additional privileges. The contract was signed in Poona (now Pune, Maharashtra) as a result of the Ethnic Award, a proposal by the British government to allot seats in India's several legislatures to various communities to reconcile various communal disputes.

Complete answer:
In 1932, Mahatma Gandhi and B. R. Ambedkar, on behalf of the depressed classes and higher caste Hindu leaders, signed the Poona Pact, which provided for the reservation of electoral seats for the depressed classes in the British India assembly. It was created on September 24, 1932, at Poona's Yervada Central Jail.

It was signed by Ambedkar on behalf of the depressed classes, Madan Mohan Malviya on behalf of Hindus, and Gandhi as a way to end Gandhi's fast in jail in protest of British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald's decision to give depressed classes separate electorates for the election of members of provincial legislative assemblies in British India. They agreed on 148 electoral seats in the end. Under the Poona Pact, nearly twice as many seats were allotted for the depressed classes than under MacDonald's Separate Electorate.

Thus the correct answer is option ‘B’. “It was signed on January 23, 1932” this statement is not correct about the Poona pact.

Note: Until Gandhi's death, Ambedkar refused to give up his stance for separate electorates. He and the Hindu leaders subsequently agreed to the deal, which foregoes separate electorates in favour of increased representation for Dalits inside the Hindu electorate for ten years. Despite Ambedkar's complaints of extortion, the treaty marked the beginning of the Indian nationalist movement's fight against "untouchability."