Gandhi’s Eleven Demands and the Choice of Salt
Modern History › Civil Disobedience Movement and Round Table Conferences · Topic 20.3
To carry out the Lahore mandate, Gandhi put eleven demands before the government with an ultimatum of 31 January 1930. They covered general, business and peasant interests, including cutting land revenue and army and civil service expenditure by half and abolishing the salt tax. With no positive response, the Working Committee gave Gandhi full powers, and he chose salt as the central theme of the movement.
5 min read · UPSC Prelims · History · Civil Disobedience Movement and Round Table Conferences
At a Glance
- Demands Eleven: six general, three for business, two for peasants
- Ultimatum 31 January 1930
- Authority Working Committee gave Gandhi full powers to launch civil disobedience
- Theme Salt, a tax that reached the starving millions
- Exam link UPSC Prelims, Modern History: Civil Disobedience Movement and Round Table Conferences
Where Does It Fit?
This is the third topic of the category on the Civil Disobedience Movement and Round Table Conferences. The previous topic covered the Lahore session. This topic covers Gandhi’s demands and the choice of salt. The next topic covers the Dandi March. Previous topic: Lahore Congress and Purna Swaraj.
What Were the Eleven Demands?
To carry forward the Lahore mandate, Gandhi presented eleven demands to the government and set an ultimatum of 31 January 1930 to accept or reject them.
| Group | Demand |
|---|---|
| General interest 1 | Reduce expenditure on the army and civil services by 50 per cent |
| General interest 2 | Introduce total prohibition |
| General interest 3 | Reform the Criminal Investigation Department |
| General interest 4 | Change the Arms Act to allow popular control of issue of firearms licences |
| General interest 5 | Release political prisoners |
| General interest 6 | Accept the Postal Reservation Bill |
| Business 7 | Reduce the rupee-sterling exchange ratio to 1s 4d |
| Business 8 | Introduce textile protection |
| Business 9 | Reserve coastal shipping for Indians |
| Peasant 10 | Reduce land revenue by 50 per cent |
| Peasant 11 | Abolish the salt tax and the government’s salt monopoly |
As an analytical point, the list spoke to different classes at once: the general demands were for civil liberties and administration, the business demands for protection and exchange rate, and the peasant demands for revenue and salt, which meant that a wide set of groups could see their own interests in the campaign.
What Happened After the Ultimatum?
With no positive response from the government, the Congress Working Committee invested Gandhi with full powers to launch the Civil Disobedience Movement at a time and place of his choice. By the end of February he had decided to make salt the central formula of the movement. The Lahore decisions are in Lahore Congress and Purna Swaraj.
How Did the Demands Relate to the Lahore Pledge?
The Independence Pledge of 26 January 1930 had spoken of ruin through high revenue, the destruction of village industries and the manipulation of customs, currency and exchange rates. The eleven demands turned these complaints into specific asks: a lower revenue burden, textile protection and a lower exchange ratio, with the salt tax as the sharpest example. As an analytical point, the demands served as a bridge between the broad goal of purna swaraj and a concrete campaign, since they gave the government a last chance to avoid a confrontation, and they let the Congress say that it had tried a settlement before civil disobedience began.
Why Was Salt Chosen?
Gandhi said that there was no other article like salt, apart from water, by taxing which the government could reach the starving millions, the sick, the maimed and the utterly helpless, and called it the most inhuman poll tax that human ingenuity could devise.
| Reason | Detail |
|---|---|
| Link of ideal and grievance | Salt linked the ideal of swaraj with a concrete and universal grievance of the rural poor |
| No division | It had no socially divisive implications, unlike a no-rent campaign |
| Income for the poor | It offered a small but psychologically important income through self-help, like khadi |
| Urban identification | Like khadi, it gave the urban population a chance for symbolic identification with mass suffering |
The choice shows Gandhi’s skill in selecting a symbol: salt was needed by every household, so a protest against its taxation could be joined by all, and it did not set landlords against tenants, as a no-rent campaign would. The next step is in Dandi March and the Spread of Salt Law Disobedience, and the earlier use of a concrete grievance, in the Champaran Satyagraha, 1917.
Why Is This Topic Important?
- List of demands The eleven demands are a stock Prelims item
- Choice of salt A standard Mains point on Gandhi’s strategy
- Class appeal Shows the broad base of the movement
What Came Next?
The next topic describes the Dandi March and how salt law disobedience spread. Next topic: Dandi March and the Spread of Salt Law Disobedience.
Key People and Terms
- Ultimatum The deadline of 31 January 1930
- Salt tax A tax on salt that reached the poorest
- Salt monopoly The government’s control over salt production
- Postal Reservation Bill One of the general demands
- Rupee-sterling ratio Exchange ratio the business demand sought to reduce to 1s 4d
- Prohibition A ban on liquor
Exam Corner
Points to Remember
- Eleven demands; ultimatum 31 January 1930.
- Army and civil services cut by 50 per cent; land revenue cut by 50 per cent.
- Rupee-sterling ratio: 1s 4d.
- Eleventh demand: abolish the salt tax and monopoly.
- Salt called the most inhuman poll tax.
Do Not Confuse With
- General, business and peasant demands Six general, three business, two peasant
- Eleven demands and Mahasabha Opposed new Muslim-majority provinces; wanted…">Fourteen Points Gandhi’s demands of 1930 versus Jinnah’s points of 1929
- Salt and no-rent Salt avoided the divisions of a no-rent campaign
Memory Hook
Eleven demands, one ultimatum, and one grain of salt.
Mains Angle
Questions ask why salt was chosen. These points add depth.
- Broad demands General, business and peasant
- Symbol Universal and undivisive
- Strategy Linking swaraj to daily life
A Question You May Face
An original practice question, not a past paper question.
“Why did Gandhi choose salt as the central issue of the Civil Disobedience Movement?”
How to Answer
- Context Eleven demands and the ultimatum.
- Reasons Universal grievance and no social divisions.
- Symbolism Self-help and urban identification.
- Conclude Link between swaraj and the poor.
GS Relevance
Frequently Asked Questions
What were Gandhi's eleven demands of 1930?
Gandhi's eleven demands included cutting army and civil service spending and land revenue by 50 per cent, prohibition, CID and Arms Act reforms, release of political prisoners, the Postal Reservation Bill, a 1s 4d exchange ratio, textile protection, reserved coastal shipping, and abolition of the salt tax.
What was the ultimatum Gandhi gave to the government?
Gandhi gave the government until 31 January 1930 to accept or reject his eleven demands. With no positive response, the Congress Working Committee gave him full powers to launch the Civil Disobedience Movement at a time and place of his choice.
Why did Gandhi choose salt for the movement?
He said no article except water allowed the government to tax the starving, the sick and the helpless like salt. It linked swaraj with a universal grievance of the rural poor and had no socially divisive implications like a no-rent campaign.
How did salt resemble khadi as a symbol?
Like khadi, salt offered a small but psychologically important income to the poor through self-help, and, like khadi, it gave the urban population a chance for symbolic identification with the suffering of the masses in the villages.
When did Gandhi decide to make salt the central theme?
By the end of February 1930, after the government failed to respond positively to the eleven demands, Gandhi decided to make salt the central formula of the movement, and on 2 March 1930 he informed the Viceroy of his plan of action, which was to march to the coast at Dandi and break the salt law there.
PYQ Practice — Statement Analysis
1 Gandhi presented eleven demands to the government with an ultimatum of 31 January 1930.
They covered general, business and peasant interests.
2 One of the eleven demands was abolition of the salt tax.
It was among the peasant demands.
3 Gandhi demanded a 50 per cent reduction in land revenue.
He also demanded a 50 per cent cut in army and civil service expenditure.
4 Gandhi called salt the most inhuman poll tax.
He said it reached the starving millions.
5 The ultimatum date of the eleven demands was 26 January 1930.
It was 31 January 1930.
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