The All India Women's Conference (AIWC) is a non-governmental organisation ( NGO) based in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

. It was founded in 1927 by Margaret Cousins in order to improve educational efforts for women and children and has expanded its scope to also tackle other women's rights issues. The organisation is the oldest nation-wide women's rights organization in India and has branches throughout the country. It is a member of the International Alliance of Women.

History

The All India Women's Conference (AIWC) was founded in 1927 in

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

in order to promote women and children's education and social welfare. Margaret Cousins had called for the creation of an organisation as early as late 1925 by writing to other women's groups and to friends to come together to discuss education for women. The first meeting held in Poona saw 2,000 attendees who met at the Fergusson College Hall on Poona University. Most of the attendees were observers, but others were women that Cousins had brought together to help create the AIWC. Amrit Kaur was one of the founding members of AIWC. One of the first secretaries of AIWC was Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay. Beginning in 1928, AIWC began to raise money to open the Lady Irwin College of Domestic Science. Also in 1928, the AIWC recognized that women's education couldn't be addressed properly without dealing with "harmful social customs." Women of the AIWC set up a committee to "watch and report on the progress of the Child Marriage Bill," and to also lobby politicians relating to the practice of

child marriage Child marriage is a practice involving a marriage or domestic partnership, formal or informal, that includes an individual under 18 and an adult or other child.* * * * Research has found that child marriages have many long-term negative co ...

. Other issues that were tackled included giving women the right to

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganising of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the M ...

, to inherit and to

vote Voting is the process of choosing officials or policies by casting a ballot, a document used by people to formally express their preferences. Republics and representative democracies are governments where the population chooses representative ...

. AIWC was registered in 1930 under the section XXI of Societies Registration Act, 1860. (No. 558 of 1930). AIWC created a journal, ''Roshni'', in 1941 which was published in both English and

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

. The organisation was involved in lobbying

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

to pass new laws to protect women in India and also to help expand voting rights. A central office for AIWC was set up in 1946. Also in 1946, a "Skippo Committee" was set up to help provide villages with medical treatment. When India was fighting for

independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...

, many more radical members left the organisation in order to become "nationalist agitators." The organisation also expelled members who were associated with

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

groups in 1948.

Activities and programmes

One of the initial main objectives of the AIWC was education of women, and it remains a primary concern today. The organisation's literacy campaign was intensified in 1996 by initiating non-formal education programmes for school drop outs and

literacy Literacy is the ability to read and write, while illiteracy refers to an inability to read and write. Some researchers suggest that the study of "literacy" as a concept can be divided into two periods: the period before 1950, when literacy was ...

programmes for adult woman with craft training through its branches. AIWC also operates

microcredit Microcredit is the extension of very small loans (microloans) to impoverished borrowers who typically do not have access to traditional banking services due to a lack of collateral (finance), collateral, steady employment, and a verifiable credi ...

schemes and energy development for

rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry are typically desc ...

women. AIWC has trained women in the use of solar driers for hygienically storing food. They also help women find employment, are involved in health issues and the prevention of

human trafficking Human trafficking is the act of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring, or receiving individuals through force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of exploitation. This exploitation may include forced labor, sexual slavery, or oth ...

Past presidents

This is a list of the past presidents of AIWC: * Maharani Chimnabai, 1927 * Jahan Begum of Bhopal, 1928 * Dowager Rani of Mandi, 1929 * Sarojini Naidu, 1930 * Dr. Muthulakshmi Reddy, 1931 * Sarala Roy, 1932 * Lady Vidyagauri Nilkanth, 1933 * Lady Abdul Quadir, 1934 * Hilla Rustomji Faridoonji 1935 * Maharani Sethu Parvathi Bayi, 1936 * Margaret E. Cousins, 1937 * Amrit Kaur, 1938 * Rani Lakshmibai Rajwade, 1939 * Shareefa Hamid Ali, 1940–41 * Rameshwari Nehru, 1942 * Vijayalakshmi Pandit, 1943 * Kamladevi Chattopadhyay, 1944–45 * Hansa Mehta, 1946 * Dhanvanthi Rama Rau, 1947 * Anasuyabai Kale, 1948 * Urmila Mehta, 1949–50 * Hannah Sen, 1951–52 * Renuka Ray, 1953–54 * Lakshmi N. Menon, 1955–58 * Raksha Saran, 1959–60 * Mithan Jamshed Lam, 1961–62 * Masuma Begum, 1963–64 * M.S.H.Jhabwala 1965–68 * B. Tarabai, 1969–70 * Lakshmi Raguramaiah, 1971–79 * Sarojini Varadappan, 1981–85 * Ashoka Gupta, 1986–90 * Shobhana Ranade, 1991–95 * Kunti Paul, 1996–98 * Kalavati Tripathi, 1999–2001 * Aparna Basu, 2002–2004 * Manorma Bawa, 2005–2007 * Gomathi Nair, 2008–2010 * Bina Jain, 2011–2013 * Veena Kohli, 2014–2016 * Rakesh Dhawan, 2017–2019 * Sheela Kakde, 2020–2022 ABMP

Other members

* Kitty Shiva Rao * Indirabai Maydeo (Secretary 1953-54)

References

Citations

Sources

* *

External links

AIWC Official Website
{{Authority control 1927 establishments in India Liberal feminist organizations Women's organisations based in India Organisations based in Delhi Organizations established in 1927 Women's conferences 1927 in women's history