Biography of Famous Social Worker, Freedom Fighter, Writer and Politician Renuka Ray

Renuka Ray was a noted social worker, an ardent freedom fighter, a noted writer, a politician, and a member of the Constituent Assembly.

As much as men have contributed to making the Constitution, women have also contributed equally. 15 women were also included in the total members of the Constituent Assembly, Renuka Ray was one of these 15 women.

Appreciating her work and outstanding contribution, the Government of India honored her with the Padma Bhushan in the year 1988.

Renuka Ray came in contact with Mahatma Gandhi at the early age of sixteen and was greatly influenced by him. When Gandhiji asked to boycott the British Indian education system, she decided to leave the college.

However, later when her parents urged Gandhiji, he explained to Renuka Ray the need for educated workers. Then she went to London for further studies. And she enrolled in the London School of Economics in the year 1921.

At the young age of 25, her parents got her married to Satyendra Nath Ray. Satyendra Ray served as a judge in several districts of the country.

He encouraged Renuka Ray to develop an original perspective on the question of gender equality.

Satyedranath Ray worked with Renuka Ray as her secretary when she became the Relief and Rehabilitation Minister.

Let us know about this freedom fighter and political woman…

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Early Life

Renuka Ray comes from an eminent family. She was born in 1904 in Bengal. Her father Satish Chandra Mukherjee was an ICS officer. Her mother Charulata Mukherjee was a social worker and a member of the All India Women's Conference.

Her maternal grandfather, Prof. PK Roy was the first Indian to receive D.Phil from Oxford University. She was also the first Indian Principal of the prestigious Presidency College, Calcutta.

Her maternal grandmother, Sarla Roy was a renowned social activist who worked for the emancipation of women. She established the Gokhale Memorial School and College. She was the first Indian woman to become a member of the Senate of Calcutta University.

Her maternal grandmother, Sarala Roy was the daughter of the famous Brahmo reformer Durgamohan Das and sister of Lady Abala Bose, and cousin of S. R. Das, the founder of the prestigious Doon School, and Deshbandhu C. R. Das.

Among her siblings, Subroto Mukherjee was the first Air Chief Marshal of the Indian Air Force. She was married to Sharda Mukherjee, the niece of Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit.

Her brother, Prosanto Mukherjee was the chairman of the Indian Railway Board, and he was married to Violet, the granddaughter of Keshab Chandra Sen. Her niece, Geeti Sen is a noted art historian and editor-in-chief of IIC, Quarterly. And she is married to famous Bollywood film director Muzaffar Ali.

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Career

When Renuka Ray returned to India, she joined the All India Women's Conference. She demanded women's rights and inheritance rights in parental property and worked tirelessly for the same.

She was nominated as an independent member to discuss possible legal changes in laws related to women. In the year 1932, she became the President of the All India Women's Conference.

In 1943, she was nominated to the Central Legislative Assembly as the representative of the women of India. She was also a member of the Constituent Assembly of India in 1946–47.

She again became the President of the All India Women's Conference in 1953-54.

She was appointed as the Relief and Rehabilitation Minister of West Bengal in the years 1952–57. After being relieved from her ministerial post, she was also a Lok Sabha member from Malda Lok Sabha constituency from 1957–1967.

In the year 1959, she headed a committee for social welfare and the welfare of backward classes, which is known as the Renuka Ray Committee.

She also served on the Planning Commission and the Visva Bharati University of Santiniketan.

She established the All Bengal Mahila Sangh and the Mahila Samanvay Parishad.

She has written a book on her biography, her memoir is titled 'My Reminiscences: Social Development during the Gandhian Era and After.' Renuka Ray's book deals with the status of women in India. The book also has a detailed discussion on the development and division of the nationalist movement in the history of India.

Part of the book deals with the impact of Partition on the eastern region when she was the rehabilitation and relief minister in West Bengal for five years.

It was during the political journey that she realized how necessary and useful the issue of reservation of seats for women in politics is. She was earlier an opponent of women's reservation but later she did not oppose women's reservation.

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Social Work

During 1930-34, she visited the coal mines of Jharkhand and presented a report on the conditions under which women worked there, which were considered harmful to women's health.

In the 1940s, Renuka Ray was nominated as an independent member of the Central Legislative Assembly as a representative of the All India Women's Conference to discuss possible legislative changes in laws related to women.

She was accompanied by Radhabai Subbarayan representing the Congress. She initially fought for the Hindu Women's Succession Bill, which she could not succeed.

She also wanted a lot of revolutionary changes for the prevention of the Zamindari system, but she was very disappointed with the approach of the Constituent Assembly.

She served as the Minister of Refugees and Rehabilitation in West Bengal from 1952–1957. The country's residents were not interchanged between West Bengal and East Bengal as in Punjab, so the government always sent little funding to the refugee camps in West Bengal.

It was the organization leadership of Renuka Ray that provided cent percent literacy to the people from the schools run in the refugee camps.

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Renuka reached Parliament on a Congress ticket from the Ratua constituency in Malda district.

She was appointed as the leader of the study group for the social welfare and welfare of backward castes under the Planning Project Committee of the National Development Council based on the Planning Commission. After two years of study, she supported the setting up of a Backward Commission from the Ministry of Home Affairs.

She was troubled by the changes taking place inside the Congress. When her name was dropped from the list of candidates for West Bengal, Nehru asked Renuka Ray to accept her nomination from the Rajya Sabha.

Renuka Ray did not agree with the idea of two houses in one country from the beginning, she considered it as a pressure of additional expenditure on a poor country.

She did not compromise on her principles and dedicated herself to the social reformation of women.

At the same time, she opposed the Sharda Bill, in which the age of marriage for girls was fixed at 14 years and for boys at 18 years.

Renuka Yeh fought for a uniform personal legal code, claiming that the condition of Indian women is one of the most unjust in the world.

She died in the year 1997 at the age of 93.

We bow down to social worker, freedom fighter, writer, and politician Renuka Ray.

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