<P> In the case of separate electorates, the voting population of a country or region is divided into different electorates, based on certain factors such as religion, caste, gender, and occupation . Here, members of each electorate votes only to elected representatives for their electorate . Separate electorates are usually demanded by minorities who feel it would otherwise be difficult for them to get fair representation in government . For example, separate electorate for Muslims means that Muslims will choose their separate leader by separate elections for Muslims . </P> <P> In India's pre-independence era, when the Muslims in India demanded fair representation in power - sharing with the British government along with the Hindus in 1906, the British government provided for a separate electorate system for the Muslims in Indian Council Act 1909 . As a result, of the total 250 seats of the Bengal Legislative Assembly, 117 seats were kept reserved for the Muslims . Accordingly, the general elections of 1937 were held on the basis of the extended separate electorates, where only the Muslims voted for the 117 seats, in Bengal . </P> <P> Again, in the Round Table Conferences in 1930 - 32, the concept of separate electorates for the so - called Untouchables (now called SC / ST) was raised by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, as a way to ensure sufficient representation for the minority SC / ST communities, in government . This provision was strongly opposed by Gandhi on the grounds that the move would disintegrate Hindu society . If the SC / ST communities were given a separate electorate, then certain constituencies would have been reserved for them, and only the people belonging to SC / ST communities would have been able to vote for the candidates contesting those seats, thus alienating the rest of the Hindus . Finally, a compromise was reached with Ambedkar and Gandhi with the Poona Pact in which the parties agreed that certain constituencies would be reserved for the SC / ST communities, where the people belonging to SC / ST communities could elect 4 candidates per constituency who would then be candidates for election by the joint electorate . </P> <P> The Anglo - Indian community is the only Indian community that has its own representatives nominated to the Lok Sabha (Lower House) in India's Parliament . This right was secured from Nehru by Frank Anthony, the first and longtime president of the All India Anglo - Indian Association . The community is represented by two members . This is done because the community has no native state of its own . States like Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal also have a nominated member each in their respective State Legislatures . </P>

When did the british government allot separate electorates to scheduled caste