Page 436 - SSB Interview: The Complete Guide, Second Edition

new women-oriented NGOs. Self-help groups and NGOs such as Self
Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) have played a major role in
women’s rights in India. Many women have emerged as leaders of local
movements — for example, Medha Patkar of the Narmada Bachao Andolan.

The Government of India declared 2001 as the Year of Women’s
Empowerment (Swashakti). The National Policy for the Empowerment of
Women was passed in 2001. In 2006, the case of a Muslim rape victim called

Imrana was highlighted in the media. Imrana was raped by her father-in-law.
The pronouncement of some Muslim clerics that Imrana should marry her

father-in-law led to widespread protests and finally, Imrana’s father-in-law
was given a prison term of 10 years. The verdict was welcomed by many
women’s groups and the All India Muslim Personal Law Board.

On 9 March 2010, one day after International Women’s Day, the Rajya
Sabha passed the Women’s Reservation Bill, ensuring 33% reservation for
women in Parliament and the state legislative bodies.

Timeline
The steady change in their position can be highlighted by looking at what has

been achieved by women in the country:

1879: John Elliot Drinkwater Bethune established the Bethune School in

1849, which developed into the Bethune College in 1879, thus becoming
the first women’s college in India.

1883: Chandramukhi Basu and Kadambini Ganguly became the first

female graduates of India and the British Empire.

1886: Kadambini Ganguly and Anandi Gopal Joshi became the first

women from India to be trained in Western medicine.

1905: Suzanne RD Tata became the first Indian woman to drive a car.

1916: The first women’s university, SNDT Women’s University, was

founded on 2 June 1916 by the social reformer Dhondo Keshav Karve
with just five students.

1917: Annie Besant became the first female president of the Indian