Sailabala Das (25 March 1875 – 29 April 1968) was a social worker and politician. She was the first woman from Odisha to go to England for higher studies.

Life

Sailabala Das, eldest child of Ambica Charan Hazra and Prosannamayee, was born on 25 March 1875 at the Bhowanipore (Calcutta) house of

Madhusudan Das Madhusudan Das (28 April 1848 – 4 February 1934) was an Indian lawyer and social reformer, who founded Utkal Sammilani in 1903 to campaign for the unification of Odisha along with its social and industrial development. He was one of the main ...

. She had five siblings. Following her mother's death, she was adopted by Madhusudan Das. In 1903, she formed the Utkal Young Men's Association and managed the Utkal Young Women's Association. She was instrumental in creation of the first women's college in Odisha, the main building of which was gifted by her. She started a Hindu widow's training school to train widows to become high school teachers. On the political front, she started several branches of All-India Women's Conference. She established Orissa Nari Seba Sangha in 1941 for social welfare of women. Indian National Council for Women held its biennial conference in Cuttack, under her leadership. She extended her reach to Bihar, where she became the first woman inspector of prison cells in Patna, first woman to join the management committee of the

Prince of Wales Medical College Patna Medical College and Hospital (abbreviated as PMCH) was established in 1925 and originally known as Prince of Wales Medical College, is a medical college located in Patna, the state capital of Bihar, India. It is located on the southern b ...

and became the Syndicate member of Patna University. Sailabala became the first woman Honorary Magistrate of India, adjudicating over 600 cases a year. In recognition to her contribution to education, Sir Edward Albert Gait, the last Lieutenant Governor of Orissa and Bihar, wanted to confer the

Kaisar-i-Hind gold medal The Kaisar-i-Hind Medal for Public Service in India was a medal awarded by the Emperor/Empress of India between 1900 and 1947, to "any person without distinction of race, occupation, position, or sex ... who shall have distinguished himself (o ...

to her but she declined it. Shailabala Women's College, Cuttack is named after her.

Literary works

* A look After and Before – autobiography (1956) * Tribute of a Daughter to Her Father (2008)

References

1875 births 1968 deaths Rajya Sabha members from Odisha Indian National Congress politicians from Odisha Recipients of the Padma Shri in social work Social workers 20th-century Indian educational theorists Women in Odisha politics 20th-century Indian women politicians 20th-century Indian politicians Scholars from Odisha Social workers from Odisha 19th-century women educators 20th-century women educators Women members of the Rajya Sabha {{Odisha-INC-politician-stub