New Delhi: The Indian Constitution is known to be one of the lengthiest written constitutions of the world. It makes India a secular country, by detaching from religious dogmas, and allows every religion, creed, class and caste to live their lives with freedom. A total of 2 years, 11 months and 18 days were taken for the Constitution to be written.
The Constituent Assembly, which had drafted the Indian Constitution, was formed in July 1946. While Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, popularly known as Babasaheb Ambedkar is known as the Father of the Indian Constitution, and few other male pioneering members are recalled as prominent names in constitution-making, the contributions of fifteen crucial women, out of which, eight also signed the constitution, have been forgotten.
Sucheta Kriplani, Ammu Swaminathan, Sarojini Naidu, Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, Durgabai Deshmukh, Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, Hansa Mehta, Begum Aizaz Rasul, Malati Choudhuri, Kamla Chaudhry, Leela Roy, Dakshayani Velayudhan, Renuka Ray, Annie Mascarene and Purnima Banerjee are the 15 unsung 'she-heroes' who had a contribution in drafting of the Indian Constitution.
1) Sucheta Kriplani
Born in Haryana, Sucheta Kriplani was the first woman Chief Minister of India and is known for her role in the Quit India Movement. She took over as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh from Chandra Bhanu Gupta and occupied the top post till 1967.
2) Ammu Swaminathan
Born in Palghat district of Kerala, Ammu Swaminathan was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1952 and Rajya Sabha in 1954. In 1946, she became part of the Constituent Assembly from Madras.
3) Sarojini Naidu
Born in Hyderabad, Sarojini Naidu was the first Indian woman to become the President of the Indian National Congress and be appointed as an Indian Governor. She is popularly known as "The Nightingale of India" for her poems.
4) Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit
Born in Allahabad on 18th of August 1900, Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit was the sister of India's first Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. In 1936, she was elected to the Assembly of the United Provinces, and in 1937 she became minister of local self-government and public health— the very first Indian woman ever to become a cabinet minister.
5) Durgabai Deshmukh
Born on 15th of July 1909 in Rajahmundry, Durgabai Deshmukh was a Member of Parliament and the Planning Commission. She was felicitated with the fourth Nehru Literacy Award in 1971 for her outstanding contribution in promoting literacy in India. In 1975, she was awarded the Padma Vibhushan.
6) Rajkumari Amrit Kaur
Born during 1889 in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, Amrit Kaur was India’s first Health Minister and she held that post for ten years. She was the founder of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).
7) Hansa Mehta
Along with being a reformer and a social activist, Hansa Mehta was also a known educator and writer. She wrote many books for children in Gujarati and translated many English stories including the Gulliver’s Travels.
8) Begum Aizaz Rasul
Begum Qudsia Aizaz Rasul was the only Muslim woman who contributed to the making of the Indian Constitution. She was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 1952 and was a member of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly from 1969 to 1990. In 2000, she was honoured with a Padma Bhushan for her contribution to social work.
9) Malati Choudhury
Born in 1904 in East Bengal (now Bangladesh), Malati Choudhury along with her husband Nabakrushna Choudhuri formed Utkal Congress Samajvadi Karmi Sangh, which later came to be known as the Orissa Provincial Branch of the All India Congress Socialist Party.
10) Kamla Chaudhry
Born in Lucknow, Kamla Chaudhry was a part of the Civil Disobedience Movement launched by Gandhi in 1930. A known writer Kamla was elected as a member of the Lok Sabha in the late seventies.
11) Leela Roy
Born in Assam, Leela Roy graduated from Bethune College in 1921 and became assistant secretary to the All Bengal Women’s Suffrage Committee.
12) Dakshayani Velayudhan
Born during 1912, on the island of Bolgatty in Cochin, Dakshayani Velayudhan was nominated to the Cochin Legislative Council by the State Government in 1945. She was the first and only Dalit woman to be elected to the Constituent Assembly in 1946.
13) Renuka Ray
A social worker, Renuka Ray was a member of the Central Legislative Assembly, Constituent Assembly and the Provisional Parliament from 1943 to 1946. She served on the West Bengal Legislative Assembly as Minister for Relief and Rehabilitation from 1952 to 1957.
14) Annie Mascarene
Born in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, Annie Mascarene was one of the first women to join the Travancore State Congress and became the first woman to be part of the Travancore State Congress Working Committee. The first woman MP from Kerala, Mascarene was elected to the Lok Sabha in the Indian general election, 1951.
15) Purnima Banerjee
Purnima Banerjee was the secretary of the Indian National Congress committee in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh. She was one of the leading women from Uttar Pradesh who stood at the forefront of the freedom movement in the late 1930's and 1940's.
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