<P> In 1932, the British Raj recommended separate electorates to select leaders for Dalits in the Communal Award . This was favoured by Ambedkar but when Mahatma Gandhi opposed the proposal it resulted in the Poona Pact . That in turn influenced the Government of India Act, 1935, which introduced the reservation of seats for the Depressed Classes, now renamed as Scheduled Castes . </P> <P> From soon after its independence in 1947, India introduced a reservation system to enhance the ability of Dalits to have political representation and to obtain government jobs and education . In 1997, India elected K.R. Narayanan as the nation's President . Many social organisations have promoted better conditions for Dalits through education, healthcare and employment . Nonetheless, while caste - based discrimination was prohibited and untouchability abolished by the Constitution of India, such practices still continue . To prevent harassment, assault, discrimination and similar acts against these groups, the Government of India enacted the Prevention of Atrocities Act on 31 March 1995 . </P> <P> The word dalit is a vernacular form of the Sanskrit दलित (dalita). In Classical Sanskrit, this means "divided, split, broken, scattered". This word was repurposed in 19th - century Sanskrit to mean "(a person) not belonging to one of the four Brahminic castes". It was perhaps first used in this sense by Pune - based social reformer Jyotirao Phule, in the context of the oppression faced by the erstwhile "untouchable" castes from other Hindus . </P> <P> Dalit is mostly used to describe communities that have been subjected to untouchability . Such people were excluded from the four-fold varna system of Hinduism and thought of themselves as forming a fifth varna, describing themselves as Panchama . </P>

Who used the term dalit for the first time
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