Mridula Sinha

Founder

Photo: Wikimedia (CC BY-SA)

Mridula Sinha is the founder of Mahila Dakshata Samiti (1977)[1], an Indian non-profit working on women & children, human rights and education from New Delhi.

Mridula Sinha (27 November 1942 – 18 November 2020) was an Indian Hindi-language writer, social worker and politician. She was one of the founders of Mahila Dakshata Samiti, a women's organisation formed in 1977 to support women facing dowry demands and domestic harassment.

She later served as the seventeenth Governor of Goa from August 2014 to October 2019, the first woman to hold the office.

Early life and education

Sinha was born on 27 November 1942 at Chhapra Dharampur Yadu in Muzaffarpur district, Bihar. She attended a local school in Chhapra and then Balika Vidyapeeth, a residential girls' school in Lakhisarai district, and took a postgraduate degree in psychology.

Social work

Mahila Dakshata Samiti was founded in 1977 by a group of women that included Sushila Nayar, Pramila Dandavate, Suman Krishan Kant, Mridula Sinha, Manju Mohan, Prem Ahluwalia and Indira Saxena, as a support group for women confronting dowry demands and harassment. Sinha served as a joint secretary of the organisation, which went on to run legal aid, counselling and vocational programmes for women.

Writing

Sinha wrote extensively in Hindi, producing short story collections including the two-volume Bihar ki Lok-Kathayen, and novels such as Nayi Devyani, Gharwaas and Sita Puni Boli. Her biography of Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia, Ek Thi Rani Aisi Bhi, was adapted for film. Much of her writing dealt with women's issues and rural life.

Public office

Sinha headed the BJP Mahila Morcha, the party's women's wing, and was a member of the party's national executive until August 2014. She was appointed Governor of Goa on 26 August 2014 and served until 23 October 2019. She was named an ambassador for the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan sanitation campaign.

Recognition

Sinha received the Acharya Tulsi Kartritva Puraskar in 2017 and an honorary doctorate from Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar Bihar University. She was awarded the Padma Shri posthumously in 2021.[2][3]

Mahila Dakshata Samiti

Mahila Dakshata Samiti was founded in 1977 by Dr Sushila Nayar, Pramila Dandavate, Suman Krishan Kant and other leaders of the women's movement, and set up India's first family counselling centre the following year. From its Delhi head office and branches in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Odisha and beyond, it has campaigned for the Dowry Amendment Bill, anti-sati and domestic violence laws and 33% reservation for women, pioneered the family courts idea and consumer movement, and runs the Swadhar Greha short-stay home and legal aid cells for women in distress.