Round Table Conferences

After Simon Commission report was found inadequate, Viceroy Lord Irwin and Prime Minister Ramsay Mac Donald agreed to hold Round Table Conference.
Three RTCs were held between November 1930 and December 1932.

First conference was held between Indians and the British on the same platform.
Congress & important Industrialists decided not to participate.
Other Indian Groups included:
- Indian princely states such as Maharaja of Baroda; Muslim League- Aga Khan III, Md. Ali Jinnah; Hindu Mahasabha- M.R. Jayakar; Women- Begum Jahanara Shahnawaz; Liberals- Tej Bahadur Sapru; Depressed Classes- B.R. Ambedkar; Sikhs; Labour; Justice Party etc.
Government of India: Narendra Nath Law, Bhupendra Nath Mitra, C.P. Ramaswamy Iyer & M. Ramachandra Rao.
Result: Not much concrete outcome. General agreement on federal principles, safeguard of defence and finance which was not even implemented. However, government agreed to the demand of Indian businesses by imposing a surcharge of 5% on cotton piece goodsimports in India. Thus, pacifying Indian capitalists.

Due to the efforts of Indian Liberal Party leaders: T.B. Sapru, C.Y. Chintamani and Srinivas Shastri, Delhi-Pact between Gandhi and Irwin came into existence.
Indian National Congress decided to participate in the 2^nd RTC with Gandhi as the sole representative.
Other Indian Groups were present: Princely states, Muslim League, Hindu Mahasabha, Depressed Classes, Industrialists etc.
Government of India was represented by C.P. Ramaswamy Iyer, Narendra Nath Law, and M. Ramachandra Rao.
Result: Again, there was nothing much to offer as it lacked agreement between different groups.
Mac Donald announced:
- NWFP and Sindh as two Muslim-majority provinces.
- Setting up of Indian Consultative Committee.
- If Indians failed to agree with the prospect of Communal Award was made clear.
- Failed to concede the basic demand of Freedom.

Indian National Congress boycotted the conference and so did most Indian leaders.Result: Like the earlier conference it did not bring much for the Indians.
The recommendations were published in White Paper in 1933, which became base for the formulation of the Government of India Act, 1935.