Janaki Devi Bajaj (7 January 1893 – 21 May 1979) was an Indian independence activist who was jailed for participating in

Civil Disobedience Movement The Salt March, also known as the Salt Satyagraha, Dandi March and the Dandi Satyagraha, was an act of nonviolent civil disobedience in colonial India led by Mahatma Gandhi. The twenty-four day march lasted from 12 March to 6 April 1930 as a ...

in 1932.

Early life and career

She was born on 7 January 1893 in

Jaora Jaora is a city and a municipality in Ratlam district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. Jaora is located in the Malwa region, between Ratlam and Mandsaur. It was the capital of the Jaora princely state of Jaora before Independence. During ...

Jaora State Jaora State was a 13 gun-salute princely state of the British Raj. It was part of the Malwa Agency. The total area of the princely state, with the dependencies of Piploda and Panth-Piploda, was . Jaora state was divided into four tehsils, J ...

into a Agarwal family. At the age of eight, she was married to 12-year-old

Jamnalal Bajaj Jamnalal Kaniram Bajaj (4 November 1889 – 11 February 1942) was an Indian industrialist. He founded the Bajaj Group of companies in the 1920s, and the group now has 24 companies, including six that are listed on the bourses. He was also a c ...

, a boy of her own community and similar family, in a match arranged by their families in the usual Indian way. The marriage was entirely harmonious and conventional, and Jankidevi was a devoted wife and mother. At the time of their wedding, the Bajaj family was one of very average, middle-class tradespeople; over the years, Jamnalal would build a large business empire and become one of India's earliest industrialists. Jamnalal participated in the freedom struggle movement, and Jankidevi also took up khadi spinning on charkha, working for Gauseva and the betterment of the lives of harijans and their temple entry in 1928. After independence, she worked with

Vinoba Bhave Vinayak Narahari, also known as Vinoba Bhave (; 11 September 1895 – 15 November 1982), was an Indian advocate of nonviolence and human rights. Often called ''Acharya'' (Sanskrit teacher), he is best known for the Bhoodan Movement. He is con ...

Bhoodan movement The Bhoodan movement (Land Gift movement), also known as the Bloodless Revolution, was a voluntary land reform movement in India. It was initiated by Gandhian Vinoba Bhave in 1951 at Pochampally village, Pochampally The Bhoodan movement attempted ...

. She served as President of Akhil Bhartiya Goseva Sangh for many years since 1942. She was conferred

Padma Vibhushan The Padma Vibhushan ("Lotus Decoration") is the second-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "exceptional and distinguished service". All persons without ...

the second highest civilian award in 1956. She published her autobiography titled, ''Meri Jivan Yatra'' in 1965.

Legacy

She died in 1979. Many educational institutions and awards have been set up in her memory, including Janaki Devi Bajaj Institute of Management Studies
Janaki Devi Bajaj Government PG Girls College Kota
and 'Jankidevi Bajaj Gram Vikas Sanstha' established by Bajaj Electricals. The Ladies’ Wing of Indian Merchants’ Chamber instituted the IMC-Ladies Wing Jankidevi Bajaj Puraskar for Rural Entrepreneurs in the year 1992–93.

Works

* Bajaj, Janaki Devi. ''Meri Jivan Yatra'' (My Life Journey). New Delhi: Martand Upadhaya, 1965 (1956).

References

*
Jankidevi Bajaj's Life - Gandhian Social Worker & True Disciple of Vinoba Bhave

External links

Jamnalal Bajaj Foundation official website
Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan in social work Women writers from Madhya Pradesh Indian independence activists from Madhya Pradesh People from Jaora 1893 births 1979 deaths Bajaj Group Indian women activists Marwari people Gandhians Prisoners and detainees of British India Social workers Indian autobiographers Indian women non-fiction writers Women autobiographers 20th-century Indian women writers 20th-century Indian non-fiction writers Hindi-language writers 19th-century Indian women 19th-century Indian people Social workers from Madhya Pradesh Women educators from Madhya Pradesh Educators from Madhya Pradesh Janaki {{India-activist-stub