WHAT CONGRESS AND GANDHI HAVE DONE TO THE UNTOUCHABLES : 21 A SHABBY SHOW
I will relate the story of the fate, which overtook this part of the Bardoli resolution relating to the Untouchables, stage by stage. To begin with the story, after the Bardoli resolution was confirmed by the All-India Congress Committee, the matter was remitted to the Working Committee for action. The Working Committee took up the matter at its meeting held in Lucknow in June 1922. On that part of the Bardoli problem which related to the uplift of the Untouchables, the Working Committee passed the following resolutions :—
“This Committee hereby appoints a Committee consisting of Swami Shradhanandji, Mrs. Sarojini Naidu and Messrs. I. K. Yajnik and G. B. Deshpande to formulate a scheme embodying practical measures to be adopted for bettering the condition of the so-called Untouchables throughout the country and to place it for consideration before the next meeting of this Committee, the amount to be raised for the scheme to be Rs. 2 lakhs for the present.”
This resolution of the Working Committee was placed before the All-India Congress Committee at its meeting held in Lucknow in June 1922. It accepted the resolution of the Working Committee after making an amendment to it saying that “the amount to be raised for the scheme should be 5 lakhs for the present” instead of
2 lakhs as put forth in the resolution of the Working Committee.
It seems that before the resolution appointing the Committee was adopted by the Working Committee, one of its Members Swami Shradhanand tendered his resignation of the membership of the Committee. At the very sitting at which the Working Committee passed the resolution appointing a Committee, another resolution on the same subject and to the following effect was passed by it:—
“Read letter from Swami Shradhanandji, dated 8th June
1922 for an advance for drawing up a scheme for Depressed Classes work. Resolved that Mr. Gangadhar Rao B. Deshpande be appointed convener of the Sub-Committee appointed for the purpose and he be requested to convene a meeting, at an early date, and that Swami Shradhananda’s letter be referred to the Sub-Committee.”
The formation of a Committee marks the second stage in the history of this interesting resolution.
The next reference to the resolution appointing the Com