Janaki Devi Bajaj (7 January 1893 – 21 May 1979) was an Indian
independence activist who was jailed for participating in
Civil Disobedience Movement
The Salt March, also known as the Salt Satyagraha, Dandi March and the Dandi Satyagraha, was an act of nonviolent civil disobedience in colonial India led by Mahatma Gandhi. The twenty-four day march lasted from 12 March to 6 April 1930 as a di ...
in 1932.
Early life and career
She was born on 7 January 1893 in
Jaora
Jaora is a city and a municipality in Ratlam district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. Jaora is located in the Malwa region, between Ratlam and Mandsaur. It was the capital of the Jaora princely state of Jaora before Independence. During ...
in
Jaora State
Jaora State was a 13 gun-salute princely state of the British Raj. It was part of the Malwa Agency.
The total area of the princely state, with the dependencies of Piploda and Panth-Piploda, was . Jaora state was divided into four tehsils, J ...
into a Agarwal family. At the age of eight, she was married to 12-year-old
Jamnalal Bajaj
Jamnalal Kaniram Bajaj (4 November 1889 – 11 February 1942) was an Indian industrialist. He founded the Bajaj Group of companies in the 1920s, and the group now has 24 companies, including six that are listed on the bourses. He was also a c ...
, a boy of her own community and similar family, in a match arranged by their families in the usual Indian way.
The marriage was entirely harmonious and conventional, and Jankidevi was a devoted wife and mother. At the time of their wedding, the Bajaj family was one of very average, middle-class tradespeople; over the years, Jamnalal would build
a large business empire and become one of India's earliest industrialists.
Jamnalal participated in the freedom struggle movement, and Jankidevi also took up khadi spinning on charkha, working for Gauseva and the betterment of the lives of harijans and their temple entry in 1928. After independence, she worked with
Vinoba Bhave
Vinayak Narahari, also known as Vinoba Bhave (; 11 September 1895 – 15 November 1982), was an Indian advocate of nonviolence and human rights. Often called ''Acharya'' (Sanskrit teacher), he is best known for the Bhoodan Movement. He is cons ...
on
Bhoodan movement
The Bhoodan movement (Land Gift movement), also known as the Bloodless Revolution, was a voluntary land reform movement in India. It was initiated by Gandhian Vinoba Bhave in 1951 at Pochampally village, Pochampally
The Bhoodan movement attempted ...
. She served as President of Akhil Bhartiya Goseva Sangh for many years since 1942.
She was conferred
Padma Vibhushan
The Padma Vibhushan ("Lotus Decoration") is the second-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "exceptional and distinguished service" ...
the second highest civilian award in 1956. She published her autobiography titled, ''Meri Jivan Yatra'' in 1965.
Legacy
She died in 1979. Many educational institutions and awards have been set up in her memory, including
Janaki Devi Bajaj Institute of Management StudiesJanaki Devi Bajaj Government PG Girls College Kotaand 'Jankidevi Bajaj Gram Vikas Sanstha' established by
Bajaj Electricals
Bajaj Electricals Ltd () is an Indian consumer electrical equipment manufacturing company based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. It is a part of the Bajaj Group. It has diversified with interests in lighting, luminaries, appliances, fans, LPG based ...
.
The Ladies’ Wing of Indian Merchants’ Chamber instituted the IMC-Ladies Wing Jankidevi Bajaj Puraskar for Rural Entrepreneurs in the year 1992–93.
Works
* Bajaj, Janaki Devi. ''Meri Jivan Yatra'' (My Life Journey). New Delhi: Martand Upadhaya, 1965 (1956).
References
*
Jankidevi Bajaj's Life - Gandhian Social Worker & True Disciple of Vinoba Bhave
External links
Jamnalal Bajaj Foundation official website
Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan in social work
Women writers from Madhya Pradesh
Indian independence activists from Madhya Pradesh
People from Jaora
1893 births
1979 deaths
Bajaj Group
Indian women activists
Marwari people
Gandhians
Prisoners and detainees of British India
Social workers
Indian autobiographers
Indian women non-fiction writers
Women autobiographers
20th-century Indian women writers
20th-century Indian non-fiction writers
Hindi-language writers
19th-century Indian women
19th-century Indian people
Social workers from Madhya Pradesh
Women educators from Madhya Pradesh
Educators from Madhya Pradesh
Janaki
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