Shakila Jalaluddin, a.k.a. Shakila Jalal (née Shakila Khatun) was a politician and Deputy Minister of Social Welfare in the Indian province of

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

. She was 24 years old when she entered the West Bengal Assembly after winning the

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

representing the

Indian Congress Party The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British E ...

in 1962 defeating Independent candidate Phonibhushan Mondal, making Jalaluddin the youngest female elected official in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. To present day, Jalaluddin holds the record for the largest number of votes in the Basanti constituency of West Bengal.

Early political career

Jalaluddin was the daughter of politician and Deputy Minister of Agriculture of West Bengal, Abdus Shokur. After her father's sudden death in the Legislative Assembly in 1960, Indian Congress Party officials approached Shakila to replace him. Shakila won her first election by a 42,000-sympathy vote majority. Election Campaign

Political accomplishments

Jalaluddin's ministerial duties were related to schooling, the establishment of rural health centers and battling over-population. In her first term, she developed a statewide

curriculum In education, a curriculum (; : curricula or curriculums) is broadly defined as the totality of student experiences that occur in the educational process. The term often refers specifically to a planned sequence of instruction, or to a view ...

and provided guidance for implementing internationally recognized standards adopted by the Board of Education. In her second term, she directed funding for the construction of accessible clinics in every village within the constituency. She also legalized and promoted the

Loop Device In Unix-like operating systems, a loop device, vnd (vnode disk), or lofi (loop file interface) is a pseudo-device that makes a computer file accessible as a block device. Before use, a loop device must be connected to an extant file in the file sys ...

for

birth control Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent unwanted pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth contr ...

, mainly because of the low cost and lack of availability of the

birth control pill The combined oral contraceptive pill (COCP), often referred to as the birth control pill or colloquially as "the pill", is a type of birth control that is designed to be taken orally by women. The pill contains two important hormones: progest ...

. Jalaluddin won two further elections in 1962, and 1967 prior to retiring from political life in 1968. Election Won

Personal life

Jalaluddin was born in Malikpure, 24 South Parganas, West Bengal India on 5 July 1934. Her family home Ferhat Manzil, remains in Mallikpure today, 12 miles from

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

, India. She obtained her master's degree in International Affaires in 1959 from

Lady Brabourne College Lady Brabourne College (LBC) is an institution for women's education in Kolkata, India. The college admits undergraduates and post-graduates, and awards degrees from the University of Calcutta. It is a state government administered college and is ...

(LBC) a women's college located in Kolkata. In 1961, while appointed as Deputy Minister of Social Welfare, she was married to Jal Jalal at the

Oberoi Oberoi (also spelled as Uberoi, Oberai and Obhrai) is a surname originating among the Punjabi Khatri caste of northern India. Notable people *Akshay Oberoi (born 1985), American-born Hindi film actor of Punjabi origin, nephew of Suresh Oberoi *H ...

Grand Hotel in Kolkata. In 1969, Shakila and her husband immigrated to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, where she appeared in

The Ottawa Journal The ''Ottawa Journal'' was a daily broadsheet newspaper published in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, from 1885 to 1980. It was founded in 1885 by A. Woodburn as the ''Ottawa Evening Journal''. Its first editor was John Wesley Dafoe who came from the ...

and The Free Press Weekly after her arrival. During that time, she remained married for over 54 years, raised a family, and was an active member of various community organizations.

Death

Shakila Jalaluddin died on 30 May 2015 in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

, after sustaining head injuries from a fall at her home. She is survived by her husband Jal Jalal, her two children, Adam and Tania, as well as two grandchildren, Sabrina and Stephanie, all still living in various parts of Canada. Shakila is laid to rest at Beechwood, Canada's National Cemetery in Ottawa. Skakila Funeral

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jalaluddian, Shakila 1935 births 2005 deaths Women in West Bengal politics Indian National Congress politicians from West Bengal Bengali politicians 20th-century Indian women politicians 20th-century Indian politicians People from South 24 Parganas district