Amrit Kaur

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It has been one of my cherished dreams that for post graduate study and for the maintenance of high standards of medical education in our country, we should have an institute of this nature which would enable our young men and women to have their post graduate education in their own country.

The creation of a major central institute for post-graduate medical education and research had been recommended by the Health survey of the government of India, a decade ago in 1946. Though the idea was highly appreciated, money was a concern. It took another 10 years for Kaur to collect adequate funds, and lay the foundation of India’s number one medical institute and hospital.” [25]

Member of the Constituent Assembly

Ninety-three cases of penicillin, a gift from the Canadian Red Cross to India arrived at New Delhi in a special plane from Canada on 17 October 1947. Presenting the gift to Amrit Kaur, the then Health Minister in the Government of India at the Palam aerodrome. Jivraj Narayan Mehta, Director General of Health Services appears on the left and standing on the right is Sardar Balwant Singh Puri of the Indian Red Cross. Rajkumari Amrit Kaur receiving penicillin cases.jpg
Ninety-three cases of penicillin, a gift from the Canadian Red Cross to India arrived at New Delhi in a special plane from Canada on 17 October 1947. Presenting the gift to Amrit Kaur, the then Health Minister in the Government of India at the Palam aerodrome. Jivraj Narayan Mehta, Director General of Health Services appears on the left and standing on the right is Sardar Balwant Singh Puri of the Indian Red Cross.

Following India's independence from the colonial rule in August 1947, Kaur was elected from the United Provinces to the Constituent Assembly of India, the government body that was assigned to design the Constitution of India. [27] She was also a member of Sub-Committee on Fundamental Rights and Sub-Committee on Minorities. [28] As a member of the Constituent Assembly, she supported a proposal for a Uniform Civil Code in India. [12] She also advocated for universal franchise, opposed affirmative action for women, and debated the language concerning the protection of religious rights.

Health Minister

After India's independence, Amrit Kaur became part of Jawaharlal Nehru's first Cabinet; she was the first woman to hold Cabinet rank, serving for ten years. In January 1949, she was appointed a Dame of the Order of Saint John (DStJ). [29] She was assigned the Ministry of Health. [13] In 1950, she was elected the president of World Health Assembly. [12] As Health Minister, Kaur led a major campaign to fight the spread of malaria in India. [12] [8] She also led the campaign to eradicate tuberculosis and was the driving force behind the largest B.C.G vaccination programme in the world. [6]

Kaur believed that the only proper method of birth control was continence, and promoted the rhythm method of birth control in India. [30] Government money was not spent on contraceptives, and instead women were given beads to keep track of "safe" days (green) and "baby" days (black). [30] Some women refused to use the beads, believing that only cows should wear that kind of bead, while others were embarrassed or believed that the beads would guarantee against conception. [30]

Kaur was also instrumental in founding the Indian Council of Child Welfare. [31] [12] Kaur served as the Chairperson of the Indian Red Cross society for fourteen years. During her leadership, the Indian Red Cross did a number of pioneering works in the hinterlands of India. She served on the boards of governmental bodies aimed at fighting tuberculosis and leprosy. [12] She started the Amrit Kaur College of Nursing and the National Sports Club of India. [12] [6]

Rajkumari Amrit Kaur played a key role in the development of College of Nursing, New Delhi (established in 1946), Government of India renamed the college as Rajkumari Amrit Kaur College of Nursing in her honor. [6]

From 1957 until her death in 1964, she remained a member of Rajya Sabha. Between 1958 and 1963 Kaur was the president of the All-India Motor Transport Congress in Delhi. Until her death, she continued to hold the presidencies of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, the Tuberculosis Association of India, and the St. John's Ambulance Corps. She also was awarded the Rene Sand Memorial Award, [32] and was named TIME Magazine's Woman of the Year in 1947. [12] [6]

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References

  1. ↑ "Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, 75, Dies; India's First Minister of Health; Gandhi's Secretary 17 Years, a Princess, Led Campaign to Eradicate Malaria". The New York Times. 7 February 1964. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  2. ↑ "Who was Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, named in TIME's magazine list of 100 influential women?". The Indian Express. 6 March 2020. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  3. ↑ Campbell, Alexander. "INDIA'S GIRLS: FROM PURDAH TO THE PLAYING FIELDS". Sports Illustrated Vault | SI.com. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  4. ↑ Gupta, Sahima (6 February 2018). "Meet Rajkumari Amrit Kaur: India's First Health Minister | #IndianWomenInHistory". Feminism in India. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  5. ↑ "Rajkumari Amrit Kaur". Constitution of India. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Sambuy, L. M., & Portnowitz, T. (2023). In Search of Amrit Kaur: A lost princess and her vanished world. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
  7. ↑ Studies, HP General (3 May 2020). "Raj Kumari Amrit Kaur". Himachal Pradesh General Studies. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  8. 1 2 "Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, 75, Dies; India's First Minister of Health; Gandhi's Secretary 17 Years, a Princess, Led Campaign to Eradicate Malaria". The New York Times . 7 February 1964. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
  9. ↑ Verinder Grover (1993). Great Women of Modern India. Vol. 5: Raj Kumari Amrit Kaur. Deep & Deep. ISBN   9788171004591.
  10. ↑ "Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, 75, Dies". The New York Times . 6 February 1964.
  11. ↑ "Archives". Nehru Memorial Museum & Library. Archived from the original on 3 May 2011.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Roychowdhury, Adrija (27 August 2020). "Rajkumari Amrit Kaur: The princess who built AIIMS". The Indian Express . Retrieved 30 August 2020.
  13. 1 2 3 4 Bhardwaj, Deeksha (2 February 2019). "Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, the princess who was Gandhi's secretary & India's first health minister". ThePrint . Retrieved 18 October 2019.
  14. ↑ "Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, an epitome of patriotism and sacrifice" . Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  15. ↑ Srinivas, V (24 September 2016). "RajKumari Amrit Kaur". Press Information Bureau . Ministry of Health and Family Affairs. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
  16. ↑ "Amrit Kaur: The princess turned Gandhian who fought Nehru on women's political participation". The Indian Express. 24 January 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  17. ↑ "EMINENT PARLIAMENTARIANS MONOGRAPH SERIES" (PDF).
  18. ↑ "Meet Princess Amrit Kaur, India's First Health Minister Who Built AIIMS". Indiatimes. 7 March 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  19. ↑ "Rajkumari Amrit Kaur: India's First Health Minister And Her Efforts For Reforming The Nation". thelogicalindian.com. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  20. ↑ "The Place of women in UNESCO: an Indian view".
  21. ↑ "Celebrating Navratri with 9 Women Heros!! Lets Salute Amrit Kaur". www.bankersadda.com. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  22. ↑ Sriprakash, Arathi; Sutoris, Peter; Myers, Kevin (2019). "The science of childhood and the pedagogy of the state: Postcolonial development in India, 1950s". Journal of Historical Sociology. 32 (3): 345–359. doi:10.1111/johs.12246. ISSN   0952-1909. PMC   7198113 . PMID   32412520.
  23. ↑ Rana, Ratika (24 November 2021). "Rajkumari Amrit Kaur: India's First Health Minister And Her Efforts For Reforming The Nation". The Logical Indian. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  24. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Frykenberg, Robert Eric; Young, Richard Fox (2009). India and the Indianness of Christianity. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. p. 225. ISBN   978-0-8028-6392-8.
  25. ↑ Rajkumari Amrit, Kaur. "The Princess Who Built AIIMS".
  26. ↑ Sethu, Divya (17 February 2021). "India's Journey From Requesting Penicillin in 1947 to Making Vaccines for the World". The Better India. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  27. ↑ CADIndia Archived 29 March 2019 at the Wayback Machine . Cadindia.clpr.org.in. Retrieved on 7 December 2018.
  28. ↑ Rajkumari Amrit Kaur Archived 23 March 2019 at the Wayback Machine . Cadindia.clpr.org.in (6 February 1964). Retrieved on 2018-12-07.
  29. ↑ "Page 81 | Issue 38503, 4 January 1949 | London Gazette | The Gazette". www.thegazette.co.uk.
  30. 1 2 3 "INDIA: Baby Days Are Black". Time . 17 January 1955. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  31. ↑ "Aboutus". www.iccw.co.in. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
  32. ↑ "Genealogy". Archived from the original on 8 August 2018. Retrieved 5 February 2019.

Further reading

Dame

Amrit Kaur
RajkumariAmritKaur1936.png
Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, from a 1936 issue of The Indian Listener
Born(1887-02-02)2 February 1887
Lucknow, North-Western Provinces, British India (present-day Uttar Pradesh, India)
Died6 February 1964(1964-02-06) (aged 75)
New Delhi, India
Organization(s) St John Ambulance,
Tuberculosis Association,
Indian Red Cross, All India Institute of Medical Sciences
Political party Indian National Congress
Movement Indian independence movement
Minister of Health
In office
16 August 1947 –16 April 1957
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