Wishesh Magazine November_2018 Wishesh Magazine November 2018 | Page 78

FREEDOM FIGHTER
78
A victim
of child
marriage,
her union
at 8 with a
much older
man is what
she calls her
father’s only
mistake.
and the Planning Commission
and, later, as the Chairman
of the Central Social Welfare
Board, Durgabai also effected
several welfare legislations to
reach out to children, women,
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the impoverished and the
destitute.
During the Salt Satyagraha,
a young Durgabai took over
as leader of the movement
in Madras after freedom
fighter T. Prakasam was
arrested. She was arrested
and sentenced to prison for
nearly three years from 1930-
1933, including a year of
solitary confinement. In her
autobiography, “Chintaman
and I,” Durgabai recalled
her years in imprisonment
as an eye-opener to the
circumstances of several
women inmates who due
to illiteracy had admitted to
crimes they had not even
committed. It strengthened
her resolve, on one hand
to become a lawyer who
could provide pro bono
legal aid, and on the other,
empowering women with
education.
Just when her legal career
at the Madras High Court
was taking off, Durgabai was
elected to the Constituent
Assembly as a Congress
candidate in 1946. She
was a member of the
Steering Committee and
took an active interest in
the Constituent Assembly
debates. With her legal
background, Durgabai
weighed in on judicial
issues. She also led the
amendment to the draft
constitution in lowering the
age from 35 to 30 for holding