UNCELEBRATED WOMEN OF THE CONSTITUTION
Content Credit: Harshitha
A remarkable project was taken up by the Constituent Assembly to empower, educate and elucidate Independent India. A project which took 2 years, 11 months, and 17 days to finish and to date stood the test of time. The project was given the title,” The Constitution Of India”.
Among the 389 members of the Indian Constituent Assembly who were responsible for drafting the constitution, 15 were women.
Why have we forgotten the women who have helped shape the Indian Constitution?
We remember only the male pioneers and have been relentlessly ignoring the efforts of these 15 women for the last 75 years. From the rights of women to the rights of minorities, reservations, or the issue of bonded labor, these women played a crucial role in crafting a politically balanced republic. Very little is known about these women in Constitutional history. To name,
Ammu Swaminathan- Fearless lady in action and thought, addressed economic issues and problems of women workers.
Annie Mascarene- Looked into the Bindu Code Bill.
Dakshayani Velayudhan was the first and only Dalit woman to be elected and at 34, she was the youngest member of the assembly. She was one of the first girls in her community to earn an upper cloth and earn a degree too.
Begum Aizaz Rasul, is the only Muslim woman in the assembly and an advocate of minority rights, reservation, the national language, and prosperity rights.
Durgabai Deshmukh- She made several key interventions on issues that include the national language, judicial independence, and human trafficking.
Hansa Jivraj Mehta- Mehta’s most significant contribution to the constituent assembly debates was in trying to make the Uniform Civil Code a justiciable part of the constitution.
Kamala Chaudary- She actively participated in the Civil Disobedience Movement of 1930. Gender discrimination, exploitation of peasants, and poor conditions of widows were the main themes.
Leela Roy-A staunch feminist encouraged and promoted women's participation in social and political movements.
Malati Choudhury tried her best to emphasize the role of education.
Purnima Banerjee, intervened in discussions around the Preamble, preventive detention, and qualifications of Rajya Sabha members.
Rajkumari Amrit Kaur became the first woman to hold a cabinet position in India as health minister. All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) ,the reputed organization that owes its existence to her.
Renuka Ray campaigned hard for women’s rights and inheritance rights in parental property.
Sarojini Naidu, The nightingale of India spoke about the importance of adopting a national flag in the Assembly.
Sucheta Kriplani was the first woman prime minister of the country and also a member of the flag representation committee. She led the assembly in singing Vande Mataram, Saare Jahan Se Achcha, and the national anthem.
Vijayalakshmi Pandit, One of the first leaders to call for an Indian Constituent Assembly to frame the constitution.
The women's movement in India has been fighting for suffrage since 1917, were first granted the right to vote in provincial legislatures in the 1920s and stand for election through the Government of India Act in 1935 and we are still debating on the representation of women in parliament. In the last 75 years of independence, women’s representation in Lok Sabha has not even increased by 10%. The plight of women has not changed much. It's very important to remember women like these who went beyond the norms and took their rightful place in public life.
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