Other Major Organizations

The early 20th century saw the growth of women’s organisations at a national and local level. The Women’s India Association (WIA) (1917), All India Women’s Conference (AIWC) (1926), National Council for Women in India (NCWI) (1925) are ready names that we can mention. The Women’s India Association (WIA) was formed in 1917 by Margaret Cousins, an Irish and an Indian nationalist. This was followed by the formation of the National Council of Indian Women (NCIW) in 1926 and All India Women’s Conference (AIWC) in 1927. The first of all India women’s organisation came into existence in 1926, with the setting up of the National Council for Women in India (NCWI). The NCWI aimed at securing women’s rights through social reforms and women’s and children’s welfare. The All India Women’s Conference (AIWC) was set up in 1927 in Poona. Its members were primarily women from the upper and upper-middle classes and princely families, women members of the Indian National Congress Party, the Communist Party, professional women like doctors and educationalists, and social workers. The AIWC took up the questions of women’s education, and it was at its initiative that the Lady Harding College for women was set up in Delhi in 1932. It also organized a large number of literacy schools and handicraft centres, which helped women from poor families learn basic skills in order to earn and be relatively independent economically.

A significant concern for women’s group in this period, in particular the AIWC, was the campaign against child marriage. As a result of this struggle the Sarada Act was passed in 1929, fixing the age of marriage at fourteen for girls and eighteen for boys. In the 1930’s the AIWC directed its energies towards fighting for women’s equal rights in inheritance and marriage, and reforms in the personal laws of different communities. Jyoti Singh in Gujarat (1934) played an active role in harnessing energies of women. Several women active in the nationalist movement became founders of women’s organizations. While many of them began with a limited focus, their scope extended over time. For instance, the AIWC began with the idea that ‘women’s welfare’ and ‘politics’ were mutually exclusive.

5.1.4. Post-Independence Women’s Movements

In the post-Independence period a series of institutional initiative has been introduced for the emancipation of women in the society. The most important of these pertain to the constitutional provisions and social legislation for women and planned economic development. Women’s movement has been widely influenced by these broad socio-economic and political processes of this period.