Rajkumari Dame Bibiji Amrit Kaur DStJ was an Indian activist and politician. Following her long-lasting association with the Indian independence movement, she was appointed the first Health Minister of India in 1947 and remained in office until 1957. She also held the charge of Sports Minister and Urban Development Minister and was instrumental in setting up the National Institute of Sports, Patiala. During her tenure, Kaur ushered in several healthcare reforms in India and is widely remembered for her contributions to the sector and her advocacy of women's rights. Kaur was also a member of the Constituent Assembly of India, the body that framed the Constitution of India.
Selja Kumari is an Indian politician and a Member of the Lok Sabha, the lower house of Indian parliament. She is a member of the Indian National Congress and has served as the Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment and Tourism during Manmohan Singh's premiership.
Roohi Zuberi is an Indian social worker and women's rights activist. Zuberi has also served as a senior cabinet member at Aligarh Muslim University.
Alka Lamba is an Indian politician serving for the President of All India Mahila Congress. After serving the Indian National Congress in various capacities for more than 20 years, she quit to join the Aam Aadmi Party on 26 December 2014. In February 2015, Lamba was elected to the Delhi Legislative Assembly from Chandni Chowk. She quit AAP in September 2019 citing disrespect for her within the party. On 6 September 2019, she formally returned to the Congress party. She was however disqualified from the Delhi assembly by Delhi speaker for violating the rules for party change over a gesture of strong warning to tainted turncoats.
Kamla Beniwal was an Indian independence activist and politician. She was a senior member of Indian National Congress party. She served as a minister in different posts and Deputy Chief Minister of Rajasthan in 2003. Later she served as Governor of different Indian states between 2009 and 2014. She became the first woman minister in Rajasthan in 1954 at the age of 27. She was the first ever woman Governor of any northeastern state. She was a recipient of Tamra Patra Award from former prime minister Indira Gandhi in recognition of her contribution in the freedom struggle.
All India Mahila Congress (AIMC), also referred to as Mahila Congress, is the women's wing of the Indian National Congress (INC). It was founded in 1940 to promote the political and social empowerment of women in India. Currently Alka Lamba heads the All India Mahila Congress as its president appointed on 5 January 2024
Chetna Gala Sinha is an Indian social entrepreneur working to empower women in areas of rural India by teaching entrepreneurial skills, access to land and means of production.
Vidyaben Shah was an Indian social worker and activist known for her work with children, women and the elderly in India. While she was already serving as Vice-President, she was appointed the first non-officio President of the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1975. She has held several leading positions in the field of social welfare since the 1940s. Vidyaben Shah died at the age of 97 on 19 June 2020 at her residence in Delhi, her son Mihir Shah confirmed the news of Vidyaben Shah death.
Renana Jhabvala is an Indian social worker based in Ahmedabad, India, who has been active for decades in organising women into organisations and trade unions in India, and has been extensively involved in policy issues relating to poor women and the informal economy. She is best known for her long association with the Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA), India, and for her writings on issues of women in the informal economy.
Manju Bharat Ram was an Indian educationist, who was the founder, chairperson of the managing committee and member of the board of trustees of The Shri Ram Schools, New Delhi; ranked as India's No. 1 day school by Education World’s Schools survey in 2008, 2009 and 2011.
Chandraprabha Saikiani or Chandraprava Saikiani was an Assamese freedom fighter, activist, writer and social reformer considered to be the pioneer of the feminist movement in Assam. She was the founder of The All Assam Pradeshik Mahila Samiti, a non governmental organization working for the welfare of the women of Assam and was a recipient of the fourth highest Indian civilian award of Padma Shri for the year 1972 from the Government of India. Three decades later, the Indian government issued a commemorative stamp on Saikiani under the series, Social Reformers, in 2002.
Sunila Devi was an Indian social activist and politician. She was an executive member of an NGO called People's Association for Research and Development, Patna which is working on financial inclusion of women and on the issues of women empowerment through micro-finance activities particularly in Nawada district of Bihar. She was wife of Sheikhpura former MLA Sanjay Kumar Singh alias Munna Singh who died in 2010, who was two times Member of Bihar Legislative Assembly before her. Now her son represents Barbigha earlier as Candidate of Indian National Congress but in 2020 Elections he joined Janata Dal (United).
Anita Reddy is an Indian social worker from Karnataka and the founder of Association for Voluntary Action and Services (AVAS), known for her services for the rehabilitation and upliftment of the slum dwellers in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. She is the managing trustee of DWARAKA and DRIK Foundations, working for children's education and women's livelihoods. The Government of India honored Anita Reddy in 2011, with the fourth highest civilian award of Padma Shri.
Savita Behen (1919-2009) was an Indian politician, social worker, educationist and a former member of Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the bicameral Indian Parliament. She was known to be an advocate of women empowerment and gender equality and was listed among the 3300 distinguished living women of the world by the Council for Parity Democracy in 1990. She was honoured by the Government of India in 1971 with Padma Shri, the fourth highest Indian civilian award.
Vanaja Iyengar was an Indian mathematician, educationist and the founder vice-chancellor of Sri Padmavati Mahila Visvavidyalayam, Tirupati, in the south Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. She was one of the founders of the Andhra Mahila Sabha School of Informatics. The Government of India awarded her the fourth highest civilian honour of Padma Shri in 1987.
Inderjit Kaur Barthakur is an Indian civil servant, economist and writer. She is a member of the North Eastern Council (NEC), which carries the rank of a Minister of State of the Union government. She has published several books of poetry, stories and cuisine and So Full So Alive and Stories to Win the World are some of her notable works. She served as a secretary to the Government of India and was the president of the Indian Economics Association in 1990.
Kshama Metre, popularly known as Doctor Didi, is an Indian rural development leader, and a pediatrician, who has led the Chinmaya Organization for Rural Development (CORD) since the founding of its predecessor organization in 1985, and she leads the organization as its National Director. The organization serves the rural areas of India with its unique approach for sustainable and comprehensive community driven integrated development program, under the aegis of the Chinmaya Mission. While holding the directorship of CORD India, she also serves as an adviser to CORD USA, the US wing of the Organization. A recipient of several awards including the Guardian International Development Achievement Award of 2012, she was selected as the Woman of the Year by The Week magazine, in 1993. The Government of India awarded her the fourth highest civilian honor of the Padma Shri, in 2008, for her contributions to society.
Smt. Urmil Thakur is an Indian politician from Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh.
Muktaben Pankajkumar Dagli is a social worker from Gujarat, India. She works for blind and disabled people and associated with several organisations. She was awarded the Padma Shri in 2019.
Chitra Sarwara is daughter of Nirmal Singh Mohra and a second generation politician. She was a former member of Aam Aadmi Party led by Arvind Kejriwal and was appointed as State Vice President, Haryana since April 2023. She joined Indian National Congress in January 2024.
