Making of the Indian Constitution (1946-1950) (1946-12-09/1949-11-26)Nehru Memorial Museum and Library
When India secured independence from British colonial rule in 1947, a woman called Rajkumari Amrit Kaur was elected to the Indian Constituent Assembly, the government body that would design the Constitution of India.
Rajkumari Amrit Kaur: Breakthrough in representation of women in public life by Ekta Singha
She would become India’s first Health Minister – an enormous breakthrough for women’s representation in the newly independent country. And as Health Minister, she would go on to enact reforms that would transform her country forever.
Rajkumari Amrit Kaur: Breakthrough in representation of women in public life by Ekta Singha
Rajkumari Amrit Kaur is one of the truly influential figures of India’s 20th century. From campaigning for an end to colonial rule, battling malaria and tuberculosis, to confronting gender discrimination, her legacy has been deep and lasting. But who was she?
Rajkumari Amrit Kaur: Breakthrough in representation of women in public life by Ekta Singha
A princess who was schooled in England
Born on 2 February 1887, Kaur was a princess of the Kapurthala State in north‐central India. She was the youngest child and only daughter of Raja Sir Harnam Singh and Priscilla Golaknath.
Like many other aristocratic Indian children, she would be sent to England for schooling. She studied at the Sherborne School for Girls in Dorset, before heading to Oxford University to finish her education.
Kaur excelled at academic and physical feats – she was head girl and captain of the hockey, cricket and lacrosse teams at Sherborne, while at Oxford she won prizes for her performances on the tennis court.
Rajkumari Amrit Kaur: Breakthrough in representation of women in public life by Ekta Singha
She took up the cause of independence
On her return to India, Kaur became drawn to the Indian independence movement. Her father had been closely associated with the Indian National Congress – a political movement and party that sought independence from British colonialism – so she was familiar with the cause early on.
Then, when the British committed the brutal Jallianwala Bagh Massacre in 1919, where many hundreds of peaceful protestors were shot dead, Kaur threw herself wholeheartedly into the struggle for independence.
An inspiration at the time was Mahatma Gandhi, whose ideas on civil rights and nonviolent opposition showed her a way forward for the independence movement. Like Gandhi, she would live an ascetic life – giving up the privileges she had inherited from her aristocratic background.
Rajkumari Amrit Kaur: Breakthrough in representation of women in public life by Ekta Singha
She was a campaigning social reformer
During the years before she was elected to parliament, Kaur became a devoted campaigner for social reform. She strongly opposed child marriage, as well as the practise of purdah – the form of female seclusion prevalent in some Hindu and Muslim communities.
Kaur also campaigned to abolish the devadasi system in India, in which a female artist would dedicate herself entirely to a deity or a temple.
In 1927, Kaur co-founded the All-India Women’s Conference, a non-governmental organization dedicated to improving education for women and children, and other women’s rights issues, like the right to divorce, vote and inherit.
Rajkumari Amrit Kaur: Breakthrough in representation of women in public life by Ekta Singha
As Health Minister, her legacy is deep and lasting
When Amrit Kaur became the first Indian Health Minister, she embarked on a course of deep reform, whose results are still with India – and the rest of the world – today.
Rajkumari Amrit Kaur: Breakthrough in representation of women in public life by Ekta Singha
As minister, Kaur was instrumental in fighting the spread of malaria in India, and leading the campaign to eradicate tuberculosis. She was also the main force behind the largest BCG vaccination programme in the world – a vaccine designed to inoculate against TB.
Kaur also was instrumental in founding the Indian Council of Child Welfare, and was Chairperson of the Indian Red Cross society for 14 years – aiding those especially in the hinterlands of India.
Leaving an extraordinary legacy for India and the world, Rajkumari Amrit Kaur can be said to have changed the course of history – saving countless lives in the process.
Illustrations by Ekta Singha
