I. (A) Personal Details
Role Name Affiliation
Principal InvestigatorProf. Sumita Allahabad University,
Parmar Allahabad
Paper Coordinator Prof. Reicha Kurukshetra Univesity,
Tanwar Kurukshetra
Content Writer/Author Dr. Vandana Kurukshetra University,
(CW) Dave Kurukshetra
Content Reviewer Prof. Reicha Kurukshetra University
(CR) Tanwar
Language Editor (LE) Dr. Sonal Consultant Editor, New Delhi
Parmar
(B) Description of Module
Items Description of Module
Subject Name Women’s Studies
Paper Name The discipline of women’s studies
Module Name/ Title Growth and Role of Women’s
Developmental Organizations in
India
Module ID Paper-1, Unit-4, Module 25
Pre-requisites The reader is expected to know about
the structure of organizations.
Objectives To equip the reader with the knowledge
of women organizations and national
and international agencies that provide
funds for the development of women.
Keywords Organization, UN, Funding Agency,
Women Organization
II.
1. Introduction
The educational experiments of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries
produced a new woman with interests that went beyond the household. For the first
time in India’s history women began to communicate with women outside their
1
, families and local communities. On the one hand there was a small group of women
who shared English as a common language, on the other hand, there were growing
numbers of women literate in the vernaculars which enabled them to learn about
women’s issues in the new women’s journals. Encouraged by their male guardians to
move with the times, they joined new clubs and associations formed for women. From
small local clubs and women’s auxiliaries of the Indian National Congress and the
National Social Conference came a variety of organizations and associations that
became the medium for the expression of women’s opinions. At the same time they
were a training ground for women who would later take up leadership roles in politics
and social institutions1.
These small organizations gave birth to a number of movements for social
change and religious reform in the nineteenth century. The broad objectives of these
movements were caste reform, improvement in the status of women, promoting
women’s education and an attack on social practices like sati, child marriage, ban on
widow remarriage, polygamy etc. whose roots lay in social and legal inequalities and
religious traditions of different communities. In the earlier phase of the social reform
movement the initiatives came largely from male reformers2.
2. Associations for Women Founded by Men3
The first organizations for women were begun by men who belonged to the new
religious reform associations. These organizations took the lead to project important
issues, which adversely affected the status of women in the society. The most
important of these organizations were the Brahmo Samaj, Prarthana Samaj and Arya
Mahila Samaj.
The Brahmo Samaj, founded by Raja Ram Mohan Roy in 1825, tried to
eliminate prejudices against women. Keshab Chandra Sen, the leader of the Brahmo
Samaj, developed educational programmes for women and stressed the need for
educating them. Being the leader of Bengal the influence of Keshab Chandra was
confined to Bengal and North India.
The Prarthana Samaj with more or less similar objectives as the Brahmo Samaj
worked in Bombay. M.G. Ranade, R.G. Bhandarkar and N.G. Chandavarker were
closely associated with it. They were concerned with social reform, formed the
Bombay Widow Reforms Association which arranged the first widow remarriage in
1869.
Both the above movements stressed women’s education with the idea to make
them better wives and mothers. These movements were the outcome of the reaction of
1
Forbes Geraldine, Women in Modern India: The New Cambridge History of India, Cambridge University Press, Delhi,
1998, p.64-83.
2
Women’s Movement in India, Published by Indian Culture and Heritage
http://www.scribed.com/doc/157493326/Women’s-Movements-IN-india
3
Forbes Geraldine, Women in Modern India: The New Cambridge History of India, Cambridge University Press, Delhi,
1998, p.64-83.
2
Role Name Affiliation
Principal InvestigatorProf. Sumita Allahabad University,
Parmar Allahabad
Paper Coordinator Prof. Reicha Kurukshetra Univesity,
Tanwar Kurukshetra
Content Writer/Author Dr. Vandana Kurukshetra University,
(CW) Dave Kurukshetra
Content Reviewer Prof. Reicha Kurukshetra University
(CR) Tanwar
Language Editor (LE) Dr. Sonal Consultant Editor, New Delhi
Parmar
(B) Description of Module
Items Description of Module
Subject Name Women’s Studies
Paper Name The discipline of women’s studies
Module Name/ Title Growth and Role of Women’s
Developmental Organizations in
India
Module ID Paper-1, Unit-4, Module 25
Pre-requisites The reader is expected to know about
the structure of organizations.
Objectives To equip the reader with the knowledge
of women organizations and national
and international agencies that provide
funds for the development of women.
Keywords Organization, UN, Funding Agency,
Women Organization
II.
1. Introduction
The educational experiments of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries
produced a new woman with interests that went beyond the household. For the first
time in India’s history women began to communicate with women outside their
1
, families and local communities. On the one hand there was a small group of women
who shared English as a common language, on the other hand, there were growing
numbers of women literate in the vernaculars which enabled them to learn about
women’s issues in the new women’s journals. Encouraged by their male guardians to
move with the times, they joined new clubs and associations formed for women. From
small local clubs and women’s auxiliaries of the Indian National Congress and the
National Social Conference came a variety of organizations and associations that
became the medium for the expression of women’s opinions. At the same time they
were a training ground for women who would later take up leadership roles in politics
and social institutions1.
These small organizations gave birth to a number of movements for social
change and religious reform in the nineteenth century. The broad objectives of these
movements were caste reform, improvement in the status of women, promoting
women’s education and an attack on social practices like sati, child marriage, ban on
widow remarriage, polygamy etc. whose roots lay in social and legal inequalities and
religious traditions of different communities. In the earlier phase of the social reform
movement the initiatives came largely from male reformers2.
2. Associations for Women Founded by Men3
The first organizations for women were begun by men who belonged to the new
religious reform associations. These organizations took the lead to project important
issues, which adversely affected the status of women in the society. The most
important of these organizations were the Brahmo Samaj, Prarthana Samaj and Arya
Mahila Samaj.
The Brahmo Samaj, founded by Raja Ram Mohan Roy in 1825, tried to
eliminate prejudices against women. Keshab Chandra Sen, the leader of the Brahmo
Samaj, developed educational programmes for women and stressed the need for
educating them. Being the leader of Bengal the influence of Keshab Chandra was
confined to Bengal and North India.
The Prarthana Samaj with more or less similar objectives as the Brahmo Samaj
worked in Bombay. M.G. Ranade, R.G. Bhandarkar and N.G. Chandavarker were
closely associated with it. They were concerned with social reform, formed the
Bombay Widow Reforms Association which arranged the first widow remarriage in
1869.
Both the above movements stressed women’s education with the idea to make
them better wives and mothers. These movements were the outcome of the reaction of
1
Forbes Geraldine, Women in Modern India: The New Cambridge History of India, Cambridge University Press, Delhi,
1998, p.64-83.
2
Women’s Movement in India, Published by Indian Culture and Heritage
http://www.scribed.com/doc/157493326/Women’s-Movements-IN-india
3
Forbes Geraldine, Women in Modern India: The New Cambridge History of India, Cambridge University Press, Delhi,
1998, p.64-83.
2
