Subsequent to which one of the following events, Gandhiji, who consistently opposed untouchability and appealed for its eradication from all spheres, decided to include the upliftment of 'Harijans' in his political and social programme?
Answer & explanation
Answer: (a) The Poona Pact
Gandhi's fast in Yeravada Jail in September 1932 ended with the Poona Pact, which replaced separate electorates for the Depressed Classes with reserved seats. While he was still in prison, the Harijan Sevak Sangh was founded and the weekly Harijan started, and after his release he devoted himself almost wholly to the campaign against untouchability.
- ✓ (a) The Poona Pact settled the 1932 dispute over separate electorates for the Depressed Classes; the anti-untouchability organisation and the paper Harijan were started while Gandhi was still in prison, and the campaign then became the centre of his work.
- ✗ (b) The Gandhi-Irwin Pact was signed in March 1931 and concerned calling off Civil Disobedience, releasing prisoners and salt manufacture along the coast. It came before the 1932 fast.
- ✗ (d) The Government of India Act, 1935 came about three years after the Poona Pact. NCERT narrates the campaign just after the 1935 reform, which can mislead, but the campaign followed the 1932 Pact.
- ✗ (c) The Quit India arrests of 1942 came about ten years after Gandhi had made the upliftment of the Harijans part of his programme.
Remember · The Poona Pact (September 1932) ended Gandhi's fast; the Harijan Sevak Sangh and the weekly Harijan followed, and Gandhi then took up the anti-untouchability campaign.
📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 8 Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part 2), Ch 2 (practise this chapter)
Sources
- NCERT Class 8 · Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part 2), Chapter 2 “A compromise was reached in the so-called ‘Poona Pact’, which, instead of separate electorates, increased the number of reserved seats for the Depressed Classes in the legislatures.”
- Movement Against Untouchability, Publications Division, Government of India (Mahatma Gandhi timeline) ↗ “Under Gandhi’s inspiration, while he was still in prison, a new organization. Harijan Sevak Sangh was founded to combat untouchability and a new weekly paper, the Harijan, was started.”
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2025, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·