Sarojini Bindurao Mahishi (3 March 1927 – 25 January 2015) was an Indian teacher, lawyer, activist and politician. She was the first woman

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

from the State of

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

, who represented the constituency Dharwad North for four terms between 1962 and 1980. In 1983 she was elected to the

Rajya Sabha The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using si ...

as member of the

Janata Party The Janata Party ( JP, lit. ''People's Party'') was a political party that was founded as an amalgam of Indian political parties opposed to the Emergency that was imposed between 1975 and 1977 by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of the Indian Nati ...

. Mahishi is best known for heading the committee appointed by the

government of Karnataka The Government of Karnataka, abbreviated as, GoK, or simply Karnataka Government, is a democratically-elected state body with the governor as the ceremonial head to govern the Southwest Indian state of Karnataka. The governor who is appointed ...

in 1983 to recommend criteria for reservation in employment in the State. Submitting the recommendations in 1986, the committee recommended that a major percentage of employment in Karnataka should be reserved to the

local people Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States * Local government, a form of public administration, usually the lowest tier of administrat ...

Early life

Sarojini Mahishi was born to Kamalabai and Bindurao Mahishi on 3 March 1927 in

Dharwad Dharwad (), also known as Dharwar, is a city located in the north western part of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of the Dharwad district of Karnataka and forms a contiguous urban area with the city of Hubballi. It was merge ...

, a city in the erstwhile

Bombay Presidency The Bombay Presidency or Bombay Province, also called Bombay and Sind (1843–1936), was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India, with its capital in the city that came up over the seven islands of Bombay. The first mainl ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

(in present-day

). She was the second of eight children. Her father Bindurao was a leading advocate and

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

scholar. Sarojini was schooled in the government-run schools of Dharwad before she attended

Willingdon College Willingdon College, Sangli, is a college named after the former Governor of Bombay, The 1st Baron Willingdon (who has later created The 1st Marquess of Willingdon). Lord Willingdon later served as Viceroy of India, from 1931 until 1936. The c ...

Sangli Sangli () is a city and the district headquarters of Sangli District in the state of Maharashtra, in western India. It is known as the Turmeric City of Maharashtra due to its production and trade of the spice. Sangli is situated on the banks o ...

. She received a degree in law from the

Raja Lakhamgouda Law College Raja Lakhamgouda Law College is an institution for legal education situated in Belgaum, Karnataka, India. It was established in 1939 by the Karnataka Law Society, and is one of the oldest Indian Law Colleges. The college is named after Raja Lak ...

Belgaum Belgaum (ISO 15919, ISO: ''Bēḷagāma''; also Belgaon and officially known as Belagavi) is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka located in its northern part along the Western Ghats. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous ...

, and a master's degree in

Sanskrit language Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the lat ...

Career

Sarojini Mahishi began her career as a teacher and taught Sanskrit and law for a few years at Janata Shikshana Samiti College in Dharwad before joining the State Social Welfare Board. During

1980 Indian general election General elections were held in India on 3 and 6 January 1980 to elect the members of the 7th Lok Sabha. The Janata Party alliance came into power in the 1977 general elections amidst public anger with the Indian National Congress (INC) and the ...

, she was a member of Central Election Committee of

to select the candidates for election. In 1983, Sarojini Mahishi was elected to the

from the state of

as a member of

. In 1989, she refused to accept the merger of Janata Party into

Janata Dal Janata Dal (“People’s Party”) was an List of political parties in India, Indian political party which was formed through the merger of Janata Party factions, the Lok Dal, Indian National Congress (Jagjivan), and the Jan Morcha united on 11 ...

. She continued to be member of Janata Party along with Indubhai Patel, Subramanian Swamy,

Syed Shahabuddin Syed Shahabuddin (4 November 1935 – 4 March 2017) was an Indian politician and diplomat from Gaya, Bihar. He began as a diplomat working for the Indian Foreign Service, but later became well known as one of the most articulate Muslim polit ...

and

H. D. Deve Gowda Haradanahalli Doddegowda Deve Gowda (; born 18 May 1933 in) is an Indian politician from the state of Karnataka. He served as the 11th prime minister of India from 1 June 1996 to 21 April 1997. He was previously the 14th Chief Minister of Karn ...

. Mahishi died on 25 January 2015 at her residence in

Ghaziabad Ghaziabad () is a city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and a part of Delhi NCR. It is the administrative headquarters of Ghaziabad district and is the largest city in western Uttar Pradesh, with a population of 1,729,000. Ghaziabad Muni ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

. Her remains were cremated in a crematorium in

Lodhi Road Lodhi Road (Hindi: लोधी रोड, Urdu: لودھی مارگ) in New Delhi, India, is named after the Lodi Gardens, Lodhi Gardens located on it. Two Mughal (tribe), Mughal mausoleums, Humayun's Tomb and Safdarjung's Tomb, lie at the ea ...

, Delhi, and her last rites were performed by her brother P. B. Mahishi.

Literary activities

Mahishi translated a number of Kannada and Marathi works into Hindi. Most prominent among them is the translation of

Manku Thimmana Kagga ''Mankuthimmana Kagga'', written by Dr. D. V. Gundappa and published in 1943, is one of the best known of the major literary works in Kannada. It is widely regarded as a masterpiece of Kannada literature and is referred to as the Bhagavad Gita ...

of Kannada Poet

D. V. Gundappa Devanahalli Venkataramanaiah Gundappa (17 March 1887 – 7 October 1975), popularly known as DVG, was an Indian writer, poet and philosopher in Kannada-language. He is one of the stalwarts of modern Kannada literature. His most notable work is th ...

Positions held

*Member of

*Vice Chairperson of

(1982–84) *4 time member of

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past ...

from Dharwad North constituency *President of Sansadiya Hindi Parishad *President of Delhi Karnataka Sangha

Sarojini Mahishi Report

The

Ramakrishna Hegde Ramakrishna Mahabaleshwar Hegde (29 August 1926 – 12 January 2004) was an Indian politician who served as the tenth Chief Minister of Karnataka for three terms between 1983 and 1988. He was elected to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly in 19 ...

government appointed Mahishi in 1983 to head the committee which recommended a certain percentage of jobs to Kannadigas in public sector undertakings, private companies and multinational companies. Pro Kannada lobby groups such as

Karnataka Rakshana Vedike The Karnataka Rakshana Vedike, popularly known as, KaRaVe and abbreviated as the KRV (English: Our Karnataka Protection Forum) is an organization located in the state of Karnataka, India. The organization has more than 6 million (as of 2012 ...

have been pressurising the implementation of Dr. Sarojini Mahishi Report in Karnataka The committee headed by Mahishi included four retired officers of the

Indian Administrative Service The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the administrative arm of the All India Services of Government of India. Considered the premier civil service of India, the IAS is one of the three arms of the All India Services along with the Indian ...

(IAS). The members were poet

Gopalakrishna Adiga Mogeri Gopalakrishna Adiga (1918–1992) was a modern Kannada poet. He is known by some commentators as the "pioneer of New style" poetry. The Hindu - 26 September 2002 Biography He was born in an orthodox brahmin family in coastal village of ...

, G. K. Satya, K. Prabhakara Reddy, G. Narayana Kumar, a legislator, and retired IAS officers B. S. Hanuman and Siddayya Puranik.

Salient features of the Report

The committee was constituted in 1983, submitted interim report on 13.6.1984 and final report on 30.12.1986 and it made 58 recommendations. Of these recommendations, Government of Karnataka accepted 45 recommendations for implementation. Some of the recommendations are: 100 per cent reservation for Kannadigas in all State Government establishments and Public Sector units. 100 percent reservation for Kannadigas in group 'c' and group 'd' jobs in Central Government departments and PSUs operating in Karnataka. A Minimum of 80 percent and 65 reservation for Kannadigas for Group 'b' and Group 'a' jobs respectively, in Central Government units and PSUs operating in Karnataka. All Personnel officers in all industrial units in the state should invariably be a Kannadiga. Industries should appoint local people on priority.

Consequences

As an initiation towards implementation of Sarojini Mahishi report Government of Karnataka has established a separate department named "Kannada Abhivridhi Pradhikara" (Kannada Development Authority) to oversee that the accepted recommendations of the report are implemented in Karnataka effectively.

List of works

* ''Sakuntala'' (1952) * ''Kasuti Kale'' (1953)

Awards

*Hindi Ratna Samman *Honorary D Litt at the 58th annual convocation of

Karnataka University Karnatak University is a public state university in Dharwad district of Karnataka state, India. The university is recognized by University Grants Commission and accredited by National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC). As of 2014, ...

References

External links

Sarojini Mahishi bioprofile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mahishi, Sarojini Rajya Sabha members from Karnataka 20th-century Indian translators 1927 births 2015 deaths Union deputy ministers of India Lok Sabha members from Karnataka People from Dharwad district India MPs 1971–1977 Indian National Congress politicians from Karnataka Janata Party politicians Indian women translators 20th-century Indian women politicians 20th-century Indian politicians Women union ministers of state of India India MPs 1962–1967 India MPs 1967–1970 India MPs 1977–1979 Women members of the Lok Sabha Women members of the Rajya Sabha Women members of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly