Renuka Ray (4 January 1904 – 11 April 1997) was a noted freedom-fighter, social activist and politician of India. She was a descendant of Brahmo reformer, Nibaran Chandra Mukherjee, and daughter of

Satish Chandra Mukherjee Satish Chandra Mukherjee (5 June 1865 – 18 April 1948) was a pioneer in establishing a system of national education in India, along with Sri Aurobindo. The positivist background Satish Chandra was born at Bandpur, Chanditala-I, Bandipur in Ho ...

, an ICS officer, and Charulata Mukherjee, a social worker and member of the All India Women’s Conference. She was awarded the

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan (IAST: ''Padma Bhūṣaṇa'', lit. 'Lotus Decoration') is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 Januar ...

by the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

in 1988.

Early life and education

She came in contact with

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

at an early age of sixteen and was greatly influenced by him. She left college to answer Gandhiji's call for boycotting the British Indian educational system. However, later when her parents persuaded Gandhiji to ask her to go to London for further studies, she joined

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

in 1921. She was married to Satyendra Nath Ray at an early age. Her maternal grandparents were the most distinguished couple of their times. Maternal grandfather Prof. P K Roy was the first Indian to receive a D Phil from

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

and a member of the

Indian Education Service The Indian Education Service or Indian Educational Service (IES) formed part of the British Raj between 1896 and 1924, when overseas recruitment ceased. It was an administrative organisation running educational establishments in British India, larg ...

and the first Indian Principal of the prestigious Presidency College, Calcutta. Maternal grandmother Sarala Roy was a well known social worker who worked for the emancipation of women. She was the founder of Gokhale Memorial School and College and the first Indian woman to be a member of the senate,

Calcutta University The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Kolkata, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate c ...

. Sarala Roy was the daughter of renowned Brahmo reformer Durgamohan Das and sister of Lady Abala Bose and S R Das, the founder of prestigious Doon School and a cousin of Deshbandhu C R Das.

Career

On returning to India, she joined All India Women’s Conference and worked hard to champion women's rights and inheritance rights in parental property. In 1932 she became President of All India Women’s Conference. She was also its president for the years 1953–54. In 1943 she was nominated to

Central Legislative Assembly The Central Legislative Assembly was the lower house of the Indian Legislature, the legislature of British India. It was created by the Government of India Act 1919, implementing the Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms. It was also sometimes calle ...

as a representative of women of India. She was also a member of

Constituent Assembly of India Constituent Assembly of India was partly elected and partly nominated body to frame the Constitution of India. It was elected by the Provincial assemblies of British India following the Provincial Assembly elections held in 1946 and nominated ...

in 1946–47. She was appointed as Minister of Relief & Rehabilitation, West Bengal in the years 1952–57. She was also

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of Parliament of India which is Bicameralism, bicameral, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by a ...

member for the years 1957–1967 from Malda Lok Sabha constituency. In year 1959 she headed a committee on Social Welfare and Welfare of Backward Classes, which is popularly known as Renuka Ray Committee. Among her siblings Subroto Mukherjee was the first air chief marshal of Indian Air Force who died in Tokyo and was married to Sharda Mukherjee (née' Pandit) a niece-in-law of Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit and Prashanta Mukherjee who was the chairperson of the Indian Railway Board and was married to Keshab Chandra Sen's granddaughter Violet. Her younger sister Nita Sen's daughter Geeti sen is a noted art historian and editor-inchief of IIC, Quarterly and married to renowned Bollywood film director Muzaffar Ali.

Works

She is author of the book ''My Reminiscences: Social Development During the Gandhian Era and After''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ray, Renuka Gandhians Women Indian independence activists 1904 births 1997 deaths 20th-century Bengalis Members of the Constituent Assembly of India Members of the Central Legislative Assembly of India India MPs 1957–1962 India MPs 1962–1967 India MPs 1967–1970 Indian independence activists from Bengal Alumni of the London School of Economics Indian activists Indian feminists Indian women activists Indian women's rights activists Indian National Congress politicians from West Bengal Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in public affairs West Bengal MLAs 1951–1957 English-language writers from India Bengali Hindus Das family (Telirbagh) Lok Sabha members from West Bengal Women members of the Lok Sabha 20th-century Indian women politicians People from Malda district Hindu feminists Activists from West Bengal Indian social workers Indian writers Bengali writers 20th-century Indian women writers Indian autobiographers Indian historical novelists Indian novelists Indian women novelists 20th-century Indian novelists Indian non-fiction writers Indian women non-fiction writers 20th-century Indian non-fiction writers Indian political writers Women members of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly