Role of voluntary organizations for women in pre-independence India: Combating the challenge

The empowerment of women presents a complex field of thought and action especially in a colonized country. In India women suffered from numerous bondage varying in nature and intensity. Since the beginning of the twentieth century several voluntary organizations for women emerged with a mission to work for their betterment. However, their role was limited within reinstating the traditional feminine virtues. The 1940’s presented a trying situation with the Bengal Famine(1943) and Partition (1947) and the organizations adopted relief projects. They also arranged for rehabilitation of the affected women. The activists dared to step outside their hearth and dedicated themselves for the essentially challenging task of active social service. How far they were successful to help the women to stand on their own with honour and thereby empower them to coup with the maladies will be the central theme of the present paper.