Women in Development: A Nehruvian Model

Jawaharlal Nehru occupies a pivotal position in the history of women’s emancipation in modern India. His engagement with the question of women’s equality extended from constitutional guarantees and symbolic recognition during the freedom struggle to concrete socio-legal reforms in the post-independence period, most notably through the codification of Hindu personal laws. This paper critically examines Nehru’s vision of women’s rights within the broader framework of national development, democratic governance, and social transformation. Drawing upon historical documents, speeches, autobiographical writings, legislative debates, and secondary scholarship—including analyses from the recent studies argues that Nehru’s approach to women’s emancipation was fundamentally liberal and state-centric. While constitutional symbolism played a crucial role in legitimizing gender equality, the actual implementation of reforms revealed the deep resistance of patriarchal social structures, compounded by intersections of caste, class, and religion. The paper further analyses women’s participation in the freedom struggle, their growing political consciousness, and their role in planning and economic citizenship. Finally, it reflects on the contemporary relevance of Nehru’s ideas in ongoing debates on gender justice and personal laws in India, including recent developments in the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in states like Uttarakhand.