Why did several members in the Constituent Assembly support the cause of the depressed classes? What did the Assembly finally recommend for them?
During the freedom struggle, Dr Ambedkar demanded separate constituencies for the backward classes. Mahatma Gandhi opposed it by saying that it will segregate them from the mainstream of society. The issue was much debated in the Constituent Assembly. 1. The members of the backward classes stated that society made use of their labour and services but kept them away from the social mainstream. The people of upper castes avoided to meet them. They neither eat with them nor allow the people belonging backward classes to visit temples.2. Nagappa stated that numerically the backward class people were not a minority. They constitute 20 to 25% of the total population. But they have been kept away from society. They have neither education nor participation in administration. 3. Sh. K. J. Khandelkar, addressing the Constituent Assembly dominated by members of upper castes, stated: “We have been crushed for centuries. We have been so crushed that our brain and body do not work. Our heart has become feelingless. Now we are not able to move ahead. This is our plight.”
