---
title: "Communal Award Definition and Impact | Model Diplomat"
description: "The Communal Award was a 1932 scheme granting separate electorates to India's minorities, including the Depressed Classes, shaping electoral politics."
url: "https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/glossary/communal-award"
---

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Model Diplomat Research Team · Last reviewed June 22, 2026

TL;DR

- The Communal Award was Ramsay MacDonald's 1932 British scheme granting separate electorates to India's minorities, including the Depressed Classes.
- Who announced the Communal Award and when?
- How did the Poona Pact modify the Communal Award?
- Why did Gandhi oppose the Communal Award?
- Where were the Award's provisions ultimately enacted?

[Civil Service & Diplomatic Exams](https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/civil-services/glossary)Updated June 22, 2026

The Communal Award was Ramsay MacDonald's 1932 British scheme granting separate electorates to India's minorities, including the Depressed Classes.

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## Timeline

1. 16 August 1932

   The Communal Award was announced by British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald on , following the failure of the Indian delegates at the Second Round Table Conf…

2. 20 September 1932

   Mahatma Gandhi, however, regarded the separation of the Depressed Classes from the Hindu fold as a vivisection of Hinduism that would permanently entrench un…

3. 24 September 1932

   Gandhi's fast precipitated frantic negotiations that culminated in the Poona Pact, signed on between Ambedkar and caste-Hindu leaders (with Madan Mohan Mala…

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In 1932, when Ramsay MacDonald's Communal Award granted separate electorates to the Depressed Classes, Mahatma Gandhi launched a fast unto death in Yerwada Jail, forcing B. R. Ambedkar to sign the Poona Pact.

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