<P> Reservation is governed by the Constitution, statutory laws, and local rules and regulations . The SCs, STs and OBCs, and in some states Backward Classes among Muslims under a category called BC (M), are the primary beneficiaries of the reservation policies . There have been protests from groups outside the system who feel that it is inequitable . </P> <P> The primary objective of the reservation system in India is to enhance the social and educational status of underprivileged communities and thus improve their lives . </P> <P> Quota systems favouring certain castes and other communities existed before independence in several areas of British India . Demands for various forms of positive discrimination had been made, for example, in 1882 and 1891 . Shahu, the Maharaja of the princely state of Kolhapur, introduced reservation in favour of non-Brahmin and backward classes, much of which came into force in 1902 . He provided free education to everyone and opened several hostels to make it easier for them to receive it . He also tried to ensure that people thus educated were suitably employed, and he appealed both for a class - free India and the abolition of untouchability . His 1902 measures created 50 per cent reservation for backward communities . </P> <P> The British Raj introduced elements of reservation in the Government of India Act of 1909 and there were many other measures put in place prior to independence . A significant one emerged from the Round Table Conference of June 1932, when the Prime Minister of Britain, Ramsay MacDonald, proposed the Communal Award, according to which separate representation was to be provided for Muslims, Sikhs, Indian Christians, Anglo - Indians, and Europeans . The depressed classes, roughly corresponding to the STs and SCs, were assigned a number of seats to be filled by election from constituencies in which only they could vote, although they could also vote in other seats . The proposal was controversial: Mahatma Gandhi fasted in protest against it but many among the depressed classes, including their leader, B.R. Ambedkar, favoured it . After negotiations, Gandhi reached an agreement with Ambedkar to have a single Hindu electorate, with Dalits having seats reserved within it . Electorates for other religions, such as Islam and Sikhism, remained separate . This became known as the Poona Pact . </P>

When was caste based reservation started in india
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