Reformers in colonial India led movements that raised issues concerning women, such as widow remarriage and women's education. Which development did the early part of the next century see?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Growth of women's organisations at the national and the local level
Option (1) Renewal of the women's movement in a second phase with new strategies — Incorrect. This describes the renewal of the women's movement in the mid-1970s, after Independence. It belongs to a later, second phase of the movement.
Option (2) Growth of women's organisations at the national and the local level — Correct. After the 19th century reform movements, the early 20th century saw women's organisations grow at the national and the local level. The WIA, the AIWC and the NCWI are examples from these years.
Option (3) A lull as women activists turned to the task of nation building — Incorrect. The lull came after 1947. Many women activists of the nationalist movement turned to the task of nation building, and some point to the trauma of Partition.
Option (4) Campaigns that put both parents' names on school application forms — Incorrect. This is a much later demand of the women's movement about women's identity in public records. It came decades after the early 1900s.
NCERT (2026-27): “The 19th Century Social Reform Movements and Early Women’s Organisations |