In January 1930, Madras Legislative Council Was discussing a law on prostitution. A fundamental point of contention was how the law should define a prostitute. The definition before the council was: “Prostitute means a woman who rents her body for sexual intercourse indiscriminately.” Some members did not agree with the different standards of morality and the allegation of prostitution only on women. They rallied around an amendment that defined a prostitute as a person of any gender. Dr. S Muthulakshmi Reddy, the country’s first woman legislator and the only woman to have more than 100 members of the council, proposed this definition.
NS the government of The India Act of 1919 made it possible for women to vote in elections. This law gave the legislative councils in the provinces the option of deciding the eligibility of voters in elections. In 1921, the Madras Legislative Council passed a resolution giving some women the power to vote. Then, a few years later, another proposal paved the way for women to become MPs. In 1926, the government nominated 40-year-old Dr Reddy to the Legislative Council.
In her first speech to congratulate the council president on her election, she said, “I am the only woman member in this assembly, even though half of the population is women. You know, sir, our position in society is still backward. And we have many complaints, one of which is that only two women out of every hundred can read and write. So you will join me in all my efforts to improve their situation, realizing that no one The country or the nation will not prosper without the active support and cooperation of women.”
His colleagues elected him as the Vice-Chairman to preside over the proceedings of the Council in the absence of the Speaker. PT RajanThe grandfather of the current Finance Minister of Tamil Nadu moved a proposal for his election. Congratulating her, a member of the council remarked that she may be the first woman in the world to preside over a legislature.
Dr Reddy came from a humble background and overcame personal difficulties to complete his degree in medicine. He used his insights as a working doctor to uncover public health issues, their funding and infrastructure. Dr Reddy also focused his legislative interventions on women’s safety. He worked extensively to abolish the Devadasi system. His efforts strengthened the Madras Immoral Trade Act. The Legislative Council removed the reference to women in the definition of prostitution. She was also able to raise the age at which girls could be rescued from brothels.
The trend of representation of women in our assemblies in the last few years has not been encouraging. percentage of women in Lok Sabha not more than 15% of the directly elected house. The condition of the state legislatures is no better. After the first general elections in 1952, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru wrote to chief ministers of states about the small number of women elected to legislatures.
In her letter she said, “I am quite sure that our real and fundamental development will happen only when women get full opportunity to play their part in public life. Wherever they have got this opportunity, they have generally done better than the common man. But, well done, better if I may say so. Our laws are man-made, our society is dominated by man, and so most of us naturally take a one-sided view on the matter. We cannot be objective , because we have grown up in some frame of thought and deed. But India’s future will probably depend more on women than men.
Last month was the 25th anniversary of the introduction of the Women’s Reservation Bill. Parliament. Dr Reddy supported reservation for women in elected bodies. In a debate in the Madras Legislative Council, he said, “We want reservation not because men would be against our interests, but because the views of women should be represented by women.”
NS the government of The India Act of 1919 made it possible for women to vote in elections. This law gave the legislative councils in the provinces the option of deciding the eligibility of voters in elections. In 1921, the Madras Legislative Council passed a resolution giving some women the power to vote. Then, a few years later, another proposal paved the way for women to become MPs. In 1926, the government nominated 40-year-old Dr Reddy to the Legislative Council.
In her first speech to congratulate the council president on her election, she said, “I am the only woman member in this assembly, even though half of the population is women. You know, sir, our position in society is still backward. And we have many complaints, one of which is that only two women out of every hundred can read and write. So you will join me in all my efforts to improve their situation, realizing that no one The country or the nation will not prosper without the active support and cooperation of women.”
His colleagues elected him as the Vice-Chairman to preside over the proceedings of the Council in the absence of the Speaker. PT RajanThe grandfather of the current Finance Minister of Tamil Nadu moved a proposal for his election. Congratulating her, a member of the council remarked that she may be the first woman in the world to preside over a legislature.
Dr Reddy came from a humble background and overcame personal difficulties to complete his degree in medicine. He used his insights as a working doctor to uncover public health issues, their funding and infrastructure. Dr Reddy also focused his legislative interventions on women’s safety. He worked extensively to abolish the Devadasi system. His efforts strengthened the Madras Immoral Trade Act. The Legislative Council removed the reference to women in the definition of prostitution. She was also able to raise the age at which girls could be rescued from brothels.
The trend of representation of women in our assemblies in the last few years has not been encouraging. percentage of women in Lok Sabha not more than 15% of the directly elected house. The condition of the state legislatures is no better. After the first general elections in 1952, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru wrote to chief ministers of states about the small number of women elected to legislatures.
In her letter she said, “I am quite sure that our real and fundamental development will happen only when women get full opportunity to play their part in public life. Wherever they have got this opportunity, they have generally done better than the common man. But, well done, better if I may say so. Our laws are man-made, our society is dominated by man, and so most of us naturally take a one-sided view on the matter. We cannot be objective , because we have grown up in some frame of thought and deed. But India’s future will probably depend more on women than men.
Last month was the 25th anniversary of the introduction of the Women’s Reservation Bill. Parliament. Dr Reddy supported reservation for women in elected bodies. In a debate in the Madras Legislative Council, he said, “We want reservation not because men would be against our interests, but because the views of women should be represented by women.”
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