The women who helped draft the Constitution

The Constituent Assembly of India was elected to frame the Constitution of India. Of the 389 members of the Indian Constituent Assembly, 15 were women. Get to know more about them here!

Ammu Swaminathan

Ammukutty, as she was fearless in thought and action as social worker and politician. Through her work at WIA, she addressed the economic issues and problems of women workers.

Annie Mascarene

Mascarene was one of the leaders of the movements for independence. She served on the Constituent Assembly's select committee that looked into the Hindu Code Bill.

Dakshayani Velayudhan

The only Dalit woman to be elected to the Constituent Assembly, she served as a member of the assembly, and as a part of the provisional parliament from 1946-52. She fought against rigid caste system.

Begum Aizaz Rasul

Begum was the only Muslim woman member in the Constituent Assembly.

Durgabai Deshmukh

A prominent social reformer who participated in Gandhi-led Salt Satyagraha activities during the Civil Disobedience Movement. She was then elected to the Constituent Assembly from the Madras Province. She was the only woman in the panel of chairmen in the Constituent Assembly

Hansa Jivraj Mehta

Hansa Jivraj Mehta served on the Constituent Assembly and was a member of the fundamental rights sub-committee, the advisory committee and the provincial constitutional committee.

Kamla Chaudhry

Kamla Chaudhry was a Hindi story writer. She actively participated in the Civil Disobedience Movement of 1930. She was a member of the Constituent Assembly & after the constitution was adopted, she served as a member of the Provincial Government of India till 1952.

Leela Roy

A freedom fighter & social worker who worked for the education of women in India. She was a close associate of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.

Malati Choudhury

After Independence, Malati Choudhury, as a member of the Constituent Assembly of India, and as the President of the Utkal Pradesh Congress Committee, tried her best to emphasize the role of education, especially adult education in rural reconstruction.

Purnima Banerjee

Purnima Banerjee was one among a radical network of women from UP who stood at the forefront of the freedom movement in the late 1930-40s.

Rajkumari Amrit Kaur

Amrit Kaur was elected to the Constituent Assembly from the United Provinces. Her most significant contribution was in ensuring extensive political participation of women.

Renuka Ray

As part of the Constituent Assembly from West Bengal, she made several interventions in the Assembly including on women's rights issues, minorities rights and bicameral legislature provision.

Sarojini Naidu

Popularly known as the 'Nightingale of India', Sarojini Naidu was an another prominent women in the Constituent Assembly.

Sucheta Kriplani

Sucheta Kripalani is remembered for her role in the Quit India Movement of 1942.

She sang Vande Mataram in the Independence Session of the Constituent Assembly.

Vijayalakshmi Pandit

She was one of the first leaders to call for an Indian Constituent Assembly to frame a constitution.