THEIR COUNTRY'S REPRESENTATIVES AT HOME AND ABROAD

Te Ao Hou, September 1960, Page 26

THEIR COUNTRY'S REPRESENTATIVES AT HOME AND ABROAD In politics, women wield considerable influence. The Congress Party, which controls the Central Government and 13 out of 14 State Governments, has as its President Indira Gandhi. One of its General Secretaries is Sucheta Kriplaani. The Praja Socialist Party has several women leaders: Mrs Alemeluamma is on the party's National Executive. There is no women on the Communist Party Central Executive, but there are five women in its National Council. During the 1957 elections, 60 women were returned to Parliament and 195 to State assemblies. At present there are three women Deputy-Ministers in the Central Government, and 13 women Ministers in the States. Until 1957, Raj

kumari Amrit Kaur was a full Cabinet Minister. She is now Chairman of the Indian Red Cross Society. There are many women in the country's administrative, armed and foreign services, dozens of them holding very senior jobs. West Bengal's Governor, for instance, is Padmaja Naidu. And women form the backbone of the community development projects which will soon cover the entire country. Indian women have also made a mark in the international field. They have been included in delegations to various international conferences. Vijayalakshmi Pandit has been the first, and so far the only woman to preside over the United Nations General Assembly. Hansa Mehta now represents India on the Unesco Executive Board. Thus women's horizon, onece limited exclusively to household tasks, has expanded considerably. In the villages, she is man's partner, sharing his arduous life and often working harder and longer hours. In the towns, she is generally well educated. And the progress made by women of the middle-income group toward gaining economic independence is a new and encouraging factor. But in spite of these changes, the Indian women's abiding interest is her home and family.