Simon Commission & Communal Award

 Simon Commission

• Seven-member statutory commission under the chairmanship of Sir John Simon.
• Commission submitted its report in 1930 Recommended
• Abolition of dyarchy
• Extension of responsible Government in the provinces,
• Establishment of a federation of British India and princely states,
• Continuation of communal electorate.
• British Govt convened three round table conferences to discussions, a ‘White Paper on Constitutional Reforms’

Communal Award

• August 1932, Ramsay MacDonald, the British PM - Scheme of representation of the minorities.
• Separate electorates for extended it to the depressed classes (Scheduled Castes).
• Gandhiji was distressed over this extension of the principle of communal representation to the depressed classes and undertook fast unto death in Yerawada Jail (Poona) to get the award modified.
• Agreement between the leaders of the Congress and the depressed classes.
• The agreement, known as Poona Pact, retained the Hindu joint electorate and gave reserved seats to the depressed classes