THE WOMEN OF INDIA
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.]
SIR,—At the meeting of the Minorities Committee of the' Round Table Conference on Friday last Mrs. Naidu voiced the views expressed in a joint memorandum of the All-India Women's Conference, the Women's Indian Association, and the Central Executive of the National Council of Women in India, against co-option, nomination or reservation of seats for women in the new Constitution. The signatories feel eonftdent- that women will now succeed in entering the Indian legislatures by the open door of ordinary election. But dare one leave the future-to a confidence based on no experience . . except that of a militant movement at a time of great emotional excitement ? . .
The presence of women- - in the first ..legislative bodies, when social legislation will be in the making, is of vital import- , ance to the future of India, and especially in those,backward • provinces. where women are least likely.to be _ returned by.. ordinary election. Why leave to chance what should and coal be made a certainty ?
It is admitted on all sides that the spread of education of girls is a vital. need,. Yet what has happened in regard -W- inds' education in the last eleven years during which Indian Ministers have been responsible for the distribution of grants tot. education as between the sexes ? About, six times as much is being spent on- boys' as on girls' education.. I do not suggest that the men arc deliberately indifferent to the interests of women, but they need the steady pressure from women to ensure. the -passing of measures dealing with edu- cational and social reforms.
The leaders; who claim to speak for the women of India as _a whole, may mot-have-any-need of reservations for them- selves ; but they are few, and the future happiness and welfare of millions of young girls is at stake. Are they going to sacrifice the progress of their sisters, perhaps for a generation, for what is in India under present conditions but an empty formula—" equal rights and no privileges " ?
I would beg every member of the Women's Associations to reconsider the position before it is too late.—I am, Sir, &c.,
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