Constitution Day: Meet The Unsung Women Who Shaped Our Rights

Every year, Constitution Day invites India to revisit the moment when the country adopted one of the world’s most ambitious democratic frameworks. The date marks the adoption of the Constitution on 26 November 1949. It is a reminder of the principles that guide public life in India, and of the people who shaped those principles through arguments, ideals and lived realities.

Most public conversations about the Constituent Assembly focus on a familiar set of names. The achievements of many women who participated in that process remain far less visible.

Their work introduced ideas of equality, dignity and citizenship that still influence debates on rights in India today.

Today, let’s highlight four such women who contributed to the framing of the Constitution. Their names rarely appear in school textbooks, but their voices strengthened the moral and intellectual foundations of the document. 

Ammu Swaminathan: A steady voice for equality and accessible justice

Ammu Swaminathan entered the Assembly with decades of experience in women’s organising and social reform. She played a key role in the formation of the Women’s India Association in 1917.

Her political work developed from close engagement with women in public life, including those who had never enjoyed formal education or legal independence.

In the Assembly, she expressed a clear concern that constitutional guarantees would remain abstract if people could not understand or exercise them.

She wished for a Constitution that citizens could carry in their pocket, not only as a physical object but also as a source of confidence.

Ammu Swaminathan focused on equality in everyday life. She believed that voting rights and access to public institutions would be meaningful only if society committed to fairness in social relations.

Her interventions encouraged the Assembly to look beyond legal language and consider the consequences of inequality on women’s experiences of citizenship.

Dakshayani Velayudhan: The first Dalit woman graduate and a lone representative of her community

Dakshayani Velayudhan grew up on an island village in Cochin and eventually became the first Dalit woman to earn a degree in India.

Her presence in the Assembly held symbolic significance, but her contribution went far beyond representation. She spoke of the need for an India where caste discrimination would lose its place in public and private life.

She urged her colleagues to understand caste not only as a social problem but as a constitutional concern that affected every aspect of justice.

Her arguments on equality came from lived experience. She believed that separate electorates would deepen social divisions, so she called for unity through shared rights.

She argued that legal protections must create a framework in which dignity is not a privilege but a default condition for every citizen. Her clarity of purpose enriched the discussion around fundamental rights and the broader vision of a democratic India.

Begum Aizaz Rasul: A strong advocate for universal citizenship during a turbulent period

Begum Aizaz Rasul was the only Muslim woman in the Constituent Assembly. The period during which she served was marked by intense communal tension and deep uncertainty about the future of minorities in the new nation.

Her political position required calm judgment and a commitment to secularism that was both principled and practical.

She opposed the idea of separate electorates for religious communities because she believed that they encouraged division and suspicion.

Her focus was on universal adult franchise and equal political participation. She argued that a shared voter base would support national cohesion and protect minority women from political isolation.

Her speeches reflected a belief that citizenship must be rooted in equal access to public life and not determined by community boundaries.

Malati Choudhury: A representative of rural voices and grassroots concerns

Malati Choudhury brought a lifetime of grassroots activism into the Assembly. She had worked closely with rural communities, freedom fighters and social reform movements.

Her understanding of poverty and rural distress shaped her contributions to constitutional debates. She reminded the Assembly that the Constitution could not remain an urban document that overlooked the everyday struggles of rural India.

Her speeches emphasised adult education, social welfare and the need to empower those who had historically been denied access to resources.

Her approach insisted on linking constitutional ideals with practical measures that could improve the lives of farmers, labourers and rural women.

Her role was to ensure that the Constitution would respond to the realities of people whose lives were overshadowed by inequality and deprivation.

Why do these women still matter?

These women differed in culture, background, region and political vision. Their lives reflected the diversity of India long before the term became common in public conversation.

They strengthened the Constitution by bringing into it the concerns of people who were often forgotten by elite institutions.

Their ideas shaped debates that still continue in India. Questions about caste equality, women’s autonomy, minority rights and the distribution of resources remain central to public life.

The work of these women demonstrates that such questions were present at the birth of the Republic and that their answers required patience, imagination and personal courage.

Remembering them expands our understanding of the Constitution. It brings into focus the individuals whose experiences and convictions shaped the values that Indians continue to rely on today.

Authored by Suhasini Rana. Views expressed are the author's own.