In Memoriam: Neera Desai

Women’s Studies Indian Journal of Gender Studies

25(2) 256–280
in Praxis: © 2018 CWDS
SAGE Publications
Dr Neera Desai’s sagepub.in/home.nav
DOI: 10.1177/0971521518761451
Contribution towards http://journals.sagepub.com/home/ijg

Developmental Work
for Rural Women
in Udwada, South
Gujarat

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Vibhuti Patel1
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Abstract
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Dr Neera Desai personified combination of both theory and praxis

in women’s studies that sees itself as an academic discipline to improve
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women’s status through knowledge construction, teaching and training,

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documentation, research, and action. She founded Centre for Rural

Development (CRD) in SNDT Women’s University, Mumbai to take
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the learning of women’s studies to transform women’s reality through

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feminist activism. CRD began its work among rural women in Udwada
village of Paradi Taluka in Valsad District of Gujarat by baseline survey
to identify the needs of the community. Economic programmes were
initiated along with consciousness raising on reasons of subordinate
status of women. Involvement of women’s rights activists and women’s
studies scholars ensured dialogues on vision, mission, goals, objectives
methods of mobilisation and issues to be taken up by the CRD.

1
Advanced Centre for Women’s Studies, School of Development Studies, Tata Institute
of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India.

Corresponding author:
Vibhuti Patel, Advanced Centre for Women’s Studies, School of Development Studies,
Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Deonar, Mumbai-400088, India.
E-mails: vibhuti.patel@tiss.edu; vibhuti.np@gmail.com
Patel 257

The interface between macroeconomic changes in the post reform period

after 1991. The new industrial belt established in South Gujarat took away
young women as industrial workers. In 2013, the SNDTWU authorities
decided to give away the CRD to a corporate house to administer as a
Corporate Social Responsibility. Nevertheless, women workers and office
bearers of the CRD, mentored by Neeraben continue to be active in the
development sector as trainers, CBOs, consultants, researchers, writers,
elected women representatives in local self-government bodies, social
workers in CSR activities and continue to uphold the ethos of CRD. Now
they talk in terms of gender sensitisation, practical and strategic gender
needs, gender planning and gender budgeting.

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Keywords

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Women’s studies, feminist praxis, Rural Development, consciousness
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raising, macro economic changes, women’s rights movement
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Introduction
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Dr Neera Desai (hereafter Neeraben) was acutely aware of the dialectical

relationship between ‘pedagogy’ and ‘praxis’, vis-à-vis the ‘women’s
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question’. This had been a concern shared by the pioneers of Women’s

Studies (WS) in India. In her first book, titled Women in Modern India,
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which was based on her Master’s thesis, in the first edition published in
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1957, Neeraben had advocated an

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….energetic campaign for exposing reactionary outlooks and ideologies

which aim at perpetuating women’s subjection is the supreme need of libera-
tion movement of Indian women. (Desai, 1987, p. 294)

The need to study women’s issues in academic institutions and to conduct

research based on experiential material and affirmative action had begun
to be discussed among Indian WS scholars by the early 1980s. In their
review of the state of the art in women’s studies researches from 1975 to
1988, jointly written with this author, Neeraben stated,

What is crucial about the stance of women’s studies in India is that it is both
an academic exercise and action. As an academic study it enriches the dis-
cipline and provides entirely new perspective to analyse situations… As a
movement it emphasises the need of providing material basis for equality and
independence of women does the quote end here?… The evolving discourse
258 Indian Journal of Gender Studies 25(2)

on this subject has proved to be fruitful for activists, academics, researchers,

policy planners and many in the UN system. (Desai & Patel, 1989, p. xi)

Research and Action:

Establishing Links
It is against this backdrop that this paper aims to critically reflect on
women’s development initiatives in Udwada and the surrounding
villages of Pardi Taluka, South Gujarat initiated in 1979 by Neeraben,
Head of Sociology Department and the founding Director of the Research
Centre for Women’s Studies. In fact, she continued working with the

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project even after her retirement as the Honorary Director of the Centre

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for Rural Development (CRD) founded by her in 1981 and which was
affiliated to SNDT Women’s University, Mumbai in 1985.
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When Neeraben established the Research Unit for Women’s Studies
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(RUWS) in 1974 in SNDT Women’s University, she had clearly visualised

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action as an integral component of all programmes. In an autobiographical

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article she averred, the need for action and intervention is paramount and
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constantly bothers the mind. For a person who has been nourished in the
phase of struggle for liberation from colonial rule, it is difficult to remain
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away from action. Thus the dilemma of tight-rope walking between

academic pursuits and active participation in transforming the iniquitous
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social structure continues (Desai, 1995, p. 243).

In 1975, when UGC decided to sponsor the unit, RUWS became the
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Research Centre for Women’s Studies (RCWS). As its founder Director,

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Neeraben defined WS as an academic discipline with five arms namely

research, documentation, teaching, training and action. Women’s studies as
an academic discipline started with the premise that women had a
subordinate status in our society and the knowledge-base created by WS
should be used for the empowerment of women. Thus, WS was seen to
have a transformative potential in terms of changing the gender-based
power relations. In Neeraben’s words,

research, teaching and action are closely linked. Teaching material, under-
standing of complexities of the problem and perspective are provided by
research, while communication of new ideas generating attitudinal change
and feedback for research are areas in which teaching reinforces research.
Education being considered an instrument of social change, it is presumed
that through research and teaching initiators of change will be created.
(Desai, 1982a, p. 1)
Patel 259

Taking feminism to rural women was a dream nurtured by Neeraben.

In 1976, she decided to reach out to the rural community of South
Gujarat. She sought to do this along with MA students of Sociology
at Smt. Nathibai Damodar Thakersey Women’s University (SNDTWU),
Mumbai, the department she was heading at that time. The work began
with a baseline study in villages near Udwada in Pardi taluka of Valsad
district. She dedicated 25 years of her life for the socio-economic and
political development of women in the region. Along with her colleague,
Kumud Shanbag, she travelled from Mumbai to Udwada—a distance of
188 km by train—on a regular basis to build the centre, conduct action
research, launch income-generation programmes, organise awareness
generation activities. This involved government clearance from district/

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tehsil authorities and interaction with the local staff and volunteers

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working on different projects. The activities of the CRD were focused
mainly on eight villages of Pardi taluka namely Kalsar, Kikarla, Kolak,
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Motwada, Palsana, Orwad, Ratlav and Udwada.
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Demographic Profile of Pardi

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Taluka, Valsad District

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Valsad district is situated at the southernmost tip of Gujarat, near the gulf
of Khambhat in the Arabian Sea. There are five talukas (sub-divisions)
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in Valsad district, Pardi is one of them. The Pardi taluka is important due
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to the Vapi Industrial Estate located there which produces chemicals,

textiles, horticulture-based products and paper. The region is popular for
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the production of Alphonso mangoes, chiku, guava, bananas, papaya and

berries. The population of Pardi comprises 5.2 lakh people, of whom
about 2.8 lakh (54 per cent) are male and about 2.4 lakh (46 per cent) are
female. Thus, the overall sex ratio of the taluka is 857, which is attributed
to the in-migration of a male workforce to the industrial zones located in
the taluka. The child (0–6 years) population of Pardi taluka is 12 per
cent, among them 53 per cent are boys and 47 per cent are girls. Thus, the
child sex ratio of the taluka is 886 which signifies a deficit of daughters
and is a cause for serious concern. The caste composition of the taluka is
as follows: 65 per cent belong to the general castes, 2 per cent are from
the Scheduled Castes and 33 per cent are from the Scheduled Tribes.
Thus the tribal population in Pardi is considerably high as compared to
the national average of 7 per cent. There are about 1.2 lakh households
in the sub-district and the average family consists of four persons.
260 Indian Journal of Gender Studies 25(2)

The majority of the population—nearly 58 per cent (about 3 lakh)—lives

in urban Pardi sub-district and 42 per cent (about 2.2 lakh) population
live in rural parts of the Pardi sub-district.
The female literacy rate was 82 per cent and the work participation
rate of women was 21 per cent according to the 2011 Census.1 Only
14 per cent and 7 per cent of the total female population in the Pardi
taluka are classified as main and marginal workers, respectively. Women
in the rural areas of Pardi taluka collect fuel, fodder, water, forest
produce; look after livestock, cultivate seasonal vegetables and fruits in
the kitchen gardens and perform innumerable agrarian chores. Their
unpaid family labour is not reflected in Census figures and they are
classified as ‘non-workers’ and 70 per cent of the total female work force

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in the Taluka is classified as ‘non-workers’ by the Census.

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In 1980, when Neeraben started work in this taluka, women were
predominantly into rice cultivation and the literacy rate was approximately
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50 per cent in the urban part. The sex ratio among the tribal population
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such as Dhodias, Konkanas, Halpatis, Dublas and Naikas was favourable
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(Desai, 1979). Among upper caste Hindus, the custom of dowry was
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largely prevalent and rich married Hindu men in the region used to enter
into ‘Maitri Karar’ (‘friendship contract’) with much younger educated
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women and treated them as co-wives (Kapoor, 2013). Forty years later,
in the 21st century, there is an addition of ‘Seva Karar’ in which an
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ageing man enters into a contract with a middle-aged woman who agrees
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to look after him. Both the practices are resorted to in circumvention of

the Hindu Marriage Act, which allows only one wife to a man and under
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which polygamy is punishable.

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Ideological Background of Neeraben’s

Intervention in Pardi Taluka
In her first book published in 1957, Neeraben referred to the Constitution
of India as ‘a great proclamation that could be actualized only by a very
stern, active, ceaseless and conscious struggle guided by a very clear and
comprehensive perspective’ (Desai, 1987, p. 9).
Thirty years later, she was consistent in her world-view when at the
‘End of the Women’s Decade Declared by The United Nations’, she
stated that the ‘struggle for establishing gender justice is a long haul and
requiring solidarity, support and constant evaluation of the situation’
(Desai, 1988b, p. x).
Patel 261

The perspective with which CRD was developed by Neeraben had its
moorings in the development discourse of that period, which was marked
by a critique of trickle-down theory and need for women’s agency (Patel
& Desai, 1985). She expressed her views in the following words:

the most crucial role of development should be the creation of a non-exploit-

ative society based on egalitarian values where each individual has access to
those resources which will enable them to realize their full human potential.
Thus it has been recognized that women have to become beneficiaries and
agents of development in all core sectors like education, health, employment,
agriculture, rural development and industry. (Desai, 1987, p. 2)

In a similar vein, in an evaluation report of implementation of government

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programmes for poor women in South Gujarat, she laid stress on the
urgent need of developing grass-roots organisations and use of multi-
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media to reach out to the community (Desai, 1988c, p. 15). She had a
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strong concern for the problems faced by both rural and urban women.
Commenting on media portrayal of women she did not mince words
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while observing that ‘They do not visualise the necessity of imparting

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information on subjects like improving agriculture, better care of cattle,

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development and modernization of skills in teaching, office work,

management, etc.’ (Desai, 1975, p. 38).
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Neeraben’s views resonate the standpoint of Ester Boserup who

criticised the policy makers for perceiving women as beneficiaries of the
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economy, not as agents of development. Boserup emphasised that

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women’s needs and interests needed to be integrated into the economic

development processes (Boserup, 1970). This reasoning was popularly
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known as the ‘Women in Development’ (WID) approach and became a

motivating force for Neeraben who was also associated with the research
undertaken for the Committee on the Status of Women in India (CSWI)
appointed by the Government of India in 1971.2 All those who contributed
to its report Towards Equality (1974) were influenced by this theoretical
framework informed by WID, that development processes had by-passed
women and there was a need to bring women back from the margins of
development to centre stage. She was at the same time aware of the
challenge involved in taking on this task.
In her paper submitted to the CSWI, Neeraben reported:

Twenty five years of independence has highlighted the fact of coexistence of

two value systems. Many women are, therefore at a loss to decide which value
system they should follow. The socialization process encourages the value of
262 Indian Journal of Gender Studies 25(2)

docility, submissiveness, self negation and self-effacement. The modern edu-

cation and outside participation require the development of individual initia-
tive and at times need to challenge the authority. (Desai, 1973, p. 3)

Neeraben was an active participant in debates and discussions that

critiqued mainstream, elitist and status quoist education (Desai & Gogate,
1970). She was impressed with Paulo Freire’s concept of ‘Critical Con-
sciousness’ among the oppressed masses that enables them to perceive
socio-political oppression and economic exploitation and to take action
against the unjust and repressive forces. As an educationist Neeraben was
explicitly involved in action for equity and justice. Freire’s ideas and his
books, especially Pedagogy of the Oppressed provided a vision of social
transformation to her.3 Ivan Illich (1971), another powerful ideologue and

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educationist who influenced Neeraben, started with the premise that the
poor have always been powerless but through conscientisation can
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empower themselves to fight against an unjust order. The women’s move-
ment adapted the ideas of Freire (1970) and Illich (1971) to evolve a
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concept of ‘Consciousness Raising’, that is, a process to identify reasons

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for subordination and subjugation, so that women could interrogate the

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nature of patriarchal control over women’s sexuality, fertility and labour.

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This exercise undertaken in a non-threatening environment helps women

to shed their fears, phobias, prejudices, biases internalised due to patriar-
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chal baggage and to emerge as empowered human beings. Neeraben

applied this method in the activities of CRD.
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This was predicated upon the emergence and evolution of a feminist

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consciousness. Keeping this in mind, Neeraben raised the question:

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what role does consciousness play in transforming society? In short, the effort
is to look for links between ideology and practice, feminism and feminist
movement and to understand whether obvious links and one-to-one connec-
tions exist. (Desai, 2006, p. 15)

Intervention and Perspective for CRD

Neeraben’s perspective for CRD was shaped by the findings of the
voluminous report Towards Equality which, on its release, became a
rallying point for all developmental interventions concerning women in
India throughout the late 1970s and 1980s. The shocking description of
Indian women’s reality, manifested in a declining sex ratio, very high rates
of female mortality and morbidity, the marginalisation of women in the
economy and discriminatory personal laws were some of the major
Patel 263

highlights of the report. The same reality was reflected in the lives of
women in Pardi taluka. A major consequence of the report was a policy
decision taken by the principal research body, the Indian Council of Social
Science Research (ICSSR), to provide financial support to scholars willing
to conduct research into problems faced by women, especially those living
in poverty. Neeraben got financial support from the ICSSR to conduct a
Base Line Study of Demographic, Socio-economic and Cultural Profile of
Pardi Taluka. She was also clear about her priorities that CRD would
concentrate on women from the poverty ridden groups.
The understanding was that CRD would undertake the education of
women and generate awareness around women’s issues; provide institu-
tional support to women in economic, social and psychological distress;

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improve their overall and reproductive health status; create employment

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opportunities; enhance their negotiating skills in family and community
life; give them the confidence to take an active part in political processes
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both as voters and candidates in Panchayati Raj Institutions; and plunge
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into activism based on collective wisdom (Desai, 1982a, 1982b).
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According to Neeraben, the perspective on which rural social action

was initiated by SNDT Women’s University, Mumbai was (i) to bring
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scientific awareness about the exact social situation, (ii) to provide skill
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training for varieties of jobs both traditional and non-traditional so that

rural men and women can be better equipped for earning livelihood. The
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major approach here has been to utilise local talent/resources and develop
them. To prepare and disseminate reading and audio visual material to
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conscietize both the rural and academic community so as to locate real

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causes underlying problems of rural people and prepare them to strive to

address them through collective action (Desai, 1983, p. 42).
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With this perspective, Neeraben started a rural development centre in

Udwada village of Pardi taluka. In 1978, Neeraben and her team of
students from the Department of Sociology of SNDTWU conducted a
rapid rural appraisal to determine the practical and strategic gender needs
of women in the area. They visited different households in Udwada and
surrounding villages. These visits gave them main information on the
socio-economic and caste compositions, lifestyle and occupational profile
of the people of the area. They also observed the labour processes of
women belonging to different caste groups and tribes. For need assessment
of women in the villages, they prepared a questionnaire for the base line
survey to cover socio-economic, health and employment issues. The
students conducted the field survey, and completed coding and tabulation.
Neeraben had focus group discussions with the students involved in this
research survey to capture the nuances. The situational analysis helped in
264 Indian Journal of Gender Studies 25(2)

deciding the priority areas for intervention by the CRD. She decided to
mentor local women to take leadership roles. She stated:

It was felt desirable that local persons with leadership qualities be identified to
work in various fields and training provided to them both in the skills needed as
well as on the overall perspective of the rural programme. (Desai, 1983, p. 2)

The main concerns of CRD centred on the following issues:

• Men outnumbered women in the Pardi taluka, as in most parts of

India. There was strong son preference here. Women who were
unable to produce a son had to undergo repeated pregnancies.
• Women who were unable to produce a child—widows, unmarried,

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divorced and deserted women—faced neglect, ridicule and dis-
crimination in the family and community.
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• The majority of women in the village got through life in a state of
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nutritional stress—they were anaemic and malnourished. Girls and
women faced nutritional discrimination within the family, eating
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last and the least. In fact, the tribal women in the villages were called
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dubla (meaning ‘weak/thin’ in Gujarati).

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• Most of the village women had little control over their own fertility
and reproductive health. Experiences of excesses during Emergency
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rule (June 1975 to March 1977) had made them suspicious of the
family planning programme. There were several rumours mixed
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with horror stories about male and female contraceptives.

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• The literacy rate was lower among women as compared to men. Far
fewer girls than boys got to school, especially among SC and ST
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communities. When girls were enrolled even among Other Backward

Castes, many of them dropped out of school.
• Women’s work was undervalued and unrecognised. Women worked
longer hours than men and carried the major share of household and
community work, which was unpaid and invisible.
• After ‘women’s work’ such as tailoring and snack making was 
professionalised, it was seen that men practically developed a
monopoly on these. In the pre-industrialisation period in South
Gujarat, tailoring and snack making were activities done solely by
women at the household level, mostly for family members. It was
only after 1960 when industrial clusters flourished, both these
activities became commercially viable due to demand from migrant
workers flocking to new industries and the development of the
diamond industry. With technological upgradation in tailoring (when
Patel 265

the hand-machine was replaced by electric tailoring and embroidery

machines) and improvement in kitchen appliances productivity in
both economic activities vastly increased. Moreover, due to new
demands for readymade garments and processed food from the
migrant workers in the industrial belt, tailoring and food production
became commercially viable. Local men found new opportunities for
income earning. As a result women were pushed into domestic work,
subsistence agriculture, kitchen gardening and animal care for milk
production. Thus sexual division of labour came into play ensuring
that women ended up having to prioritise unpaid domestic work and
subsistence agriculture over paid work from pottery and fish vending.
This happened with the majority of women of the potter and fisher
folk communities.

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• Women generally earned a far lower wage than men doing the same

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work, despite the Equal Remuneration Act of 1976. In none of the
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villages did women and men earn equal wages in agriculture. The
majority of women workers were in the unorganised sector, barely
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managing to get subsistence wages.

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• Women were under-represented in governance and decision-making

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positions in the whole of South Gujarat. Except for the District

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Commissioner—who was a woman—no other officer at the taluka

or district level was a woman.
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• There was a total aversion to imparting skills to women and girls

among the officers of the Industrial Training Institute who believed
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that instruments were phallic symbols and women handling

instruments/machines would pollute them. This they believed would
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result in major calamities.

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• Women were also legally discriminated against in land and property

rights under the prevailing customary laws. Most women in the
villages did not own property in their own names and did not get a
share of parental property.
• The custom of dowry was practiced among Anavil Brahmins.
• Most of the women had faced violence inside and outside the family
throughout their lives. Casteism, communalism and ethnic chauvinism
institutionalised violence against Dalit, religious minority and tribal
women (see Neera Desai, 1979).

With these pointers, a road map for further activities was charted out by
Neeraben and her team keeping in mind the fact that,

in the present context, gender subordination, the need to change conscious-

ness is recognized as a prime necessity. In fact conscientisation of women
266 Indian Journal of Gender Studies 25(2)

about their unequal status, rights, social spaces has been one of the important
items of feminist activism. (Desai, 2006, p. 21)

Support System for CRD in Udwada

The Collector of Valsad district was sensitive to women’s concerns and
the village Panchayat also welcomed the idea of the CRD initiative of
SNDTWU under the leadership of Neeraben. They decided to give a plot
of land to construct an activity centre. A freedom fighter from Udwada
who resided in Mumbai volunteered to allow CRD to use her bungalow
till SNDTWU got its own office built. First, all members of the CRD

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undertook awareness generation programmes/activities among women

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through film screenings, meetings and workshops on health, education
and legal rights of women. The participants would sit in a circle, begin
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the meetings with songs based on folk tunes from Gujarat and share/
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exchange news about women’s lives in their villages. The discussion
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would revolve around alcoholism among men, domestic violence, street

harassment of girls and women, the problem of commuting faced by
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high school and college girls as they had to travel to cities such as Vapi,
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Navsari, Valsad and Surat by state transport or railways. The women

would get extremely excited while giving vivid descriptions of the
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wealth and luxury enjoyed by smugglers in the area and the craze for
imported goods such as cosmetics, perfumes, garments, toys, electronic
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goods, wrist watches, etc. being sold by members of the fishing com-
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munities involved in smuggling in the coastal lines. Many of them also

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volunteered to take SNDTWU MA students to buy smuggled goods!

The students reported this to Neeraben and she clearly told every one of
them that the mission of the CRD was empowerment of women, not the
spread of hedonism or consumerism. Neeraben also made it clear that
CRD would work for all women from the area irrespective of their caste,
class, religious and ethnic backgrounds. Thus, women from caste Hindu,
Dalit, tribal and minority communities got associated with CRD.
Dalit and tribal women from the villages, who were mainly agricultural
workers, managed to get regular work during four months of the monsoon
season. During the remaining eight months they faced acute economic
hardship due to irregular casual work. They were illiterate and knew
only agricultural tasks. A study of the local situation with regard to the
supply of raw material and demand for finished goods revealed that an
income-generating activity for the manufacture of clean, pure masalas
(spices) such as turmeric, chili, cumin, coriander and ginger powder was
Patel 267

viable. Hence, the CRD decided to start a masala-making unit in Udwada.

Here, they also faced caste-based prejudices which were overcome after
a series of meetings and workshops to ‘unlearn casteism…’. Neeraben
reflected, ‘The Udwada experience has confirmed the persistence of
caste prejudices and hierarchical interactions. Theses biases can be
eliminated through practice and conscious efforts’ (Desai, 1985, p. 7).
Inspired by CRD’s activities and Neeraben’s warm and amiable
nature, several institutions in the SNDTWU encouraged their students
and teachers to conduct their extension activities with the Centre. Thus
the SVT College of Home Science, Mumbai, placed its student-interns to
run balwadis (nurseries) and improve the quality of services rendered by
the ICDS Integrated Child Development Scheme centres in Pardi taluka.

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Students and teachers from the Department of Post Graduate Studies and

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Research conducted nutrition awareness programmes for community-
based organisers (CBOs) and PV Polytechnique of SNDTWU, Mumbai,
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imparted skill training to adolescent girls and women through their
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training programmes.
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Opposition from Vested Interests

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The moment the economic programme involving rural women was

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launched, the local businessmen who controlled the supply of raw material,
the labour market and markets became uneasy. They were paying below
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subsistence wages to their workers, selling adulterated masalas and

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thriving in their business by bribing petty officials from the Food and Drug
Control Office. First of all they tried to scare women joining the CRD by
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threatening them with dire consequences if their own business interests

were affected. When women showed their firmness to continue working
for the masala unit of the CRD, they began negotiating with the women
that CRD should sell its products to the local businessmen and that to
reduce the cost of production adulteration should be adopted by mixing
wood powder (which is thrown away by carpenters as waste) in spices like
dhania–jeera powder, chili powder and turmeric powder. This was
vehemently opposed by the women in CRD. Neeraben reported this
scandalous behaviour of the local businessman to the District Commissioner
and conveyed the information that the wholesalers had ganged up with the
businessmen to kill the CRD’s masala project. With timely intervention by
the District Commissioner, new markets for masalas were found in the
cities. As CRD’s masalas were pure, prepared in a clean and hygienic
manner and were of good quality, the CRD managed to get a loyal clientele.
268 Indian Journal of Gender Studies 25(2)

Neeraben’s determination to work in the midst of multifaceted

challenges during the first four years is reviewed in her own words:

Four years of working in rural areas has provided pay offs in terms of under-
standing dynamics of rural society and reinforcement of the determination
to work for this society which needs all attention and concern because it is
deprived not only of the necessities but has no exposure to options available.
(Desai, 1983, p. 54)

Consciousness Raising and Changing the Mindset

According to Neeraben, ‘the women’s movement is the organized effort to

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achieve a common goal of equality and liberation of women and it

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presupposes sensitiveness to crucial issues affecting the life of women’
(Desai, 1988a, p. ix). In discussions with rural women in Gujarati,
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Neeraben would reiterate, ‘Consciousness is socially constructed.
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“Boldness”, “aggressiveness”, “coyness”, “self-effacement” and many

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other personal qualities are culturally constructed’ (Desai, 2006, p. 24).

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Right from the beginning challenging patriarchal mindsets and changing

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attitudes towards women and girls were central concerns of the CRD.
Regular workshops, training programmes and talks, slide shows and film
screenings were organised in collaboration with women rights activists
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from Vadodara, Ahmedabad, Surat, Valsad and Mumbai. VHS versions of

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films made by feminist documentary makers on sex selection, violence

against women, laws for women, portrayal of women in the media, land
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rights for women and tribal women’s rights to forest resources were
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screened and discussed. Films produced by CENDIT were borrowed from

the RCWS library. These were shown without the sound turned on so that
a running commentary in Gujarati could be given. VHS of ISRO series in
Gujarati by Ms Dinaz Kalwachwala titled Nari tu Narayan (Women, you
are blessed) which covered several issues taken up by the women’s
movement in India and a series on ‘Women and Law’ were widely used for
discussion in the villages. Dinaz supported CRD’s activities by sharing
media resources. Members of the Medico Friends Circle were invited to
conduct periodic training for health workers, and legal literacy programmes
were organised. Sixteen issues of Narimukti were also widely used as
these contained a series of articles deconstructing patriarchy, profiles of
women in different walks of life, translations of articles by Vina Mazumdar
(on women in education) Leela Dube (on the socialisation of girls in India)
and Sardamoni (on women’s work in agriculture and the household), film
Patel 269

reviews, poems by Joy Deshmukh, Alice Walker, Maya Angelou, book

reviews and original articles in Gujarati.
In 2008, while reminiscing on the activities of CRD, Neeraben
recalled that, ‘While pressing for better working conditions of peasant
women, issues like wife-beating, alcoholism, dowry and sexual
harassment from upper castes were also given attention’ (Desai, 2008,
p. 26). She endorsed the following statement of Amartya Kumar Sen and
often quoted him in the training workshops of CRD:

The systematically inferior position of women inside and outside the house-
hold in many societies, points to the necessity of treating gender as a force
of its own in development analysis. The economic hardship of woman-

e
headed households is both a problem of female deprivation and of family

us
poverty. Furthermore, females and males in the same family may well have
quite divergent predicaments, and this can make the position of women in
al
the poorer families particularly precarious. To concentrate on family poverty
irrespective of gender can be misleading in terms of both causation and con-
ci

sequences. (Sen, 1987, p. 3)

er
m

Due to the credibility Neeraben enjoyed, professionals such as doctors,

om

lawyers, writers, theatre personalities, artists, teachers and government

officers readily volunteered to be resource persons for the ongoing
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activities of the centre.

fo
ot

Establishment of the Training Centre in 1988

N

Over the years Neeraben was able to raise funds from UNICEF,
UNESCO, NORAD and the Government of Gujarat for the wide range
of activities undertaken by the CRD. NORAD gave funds to construct a
training centre for women in Kikarla village. During the 1980s, this
centre was throbbing continually with workshops for anganwadi, balwadi
and village health workers, women volunteers and CBOs. Capacity
building and skill training programmes conducted by the CRD became
extremely popular in South Gujarat. After the 73rd and 74th amend-
ments in the Constitution of India in 1994, CRD also started training
workshops for women elected under reserved seats in the panchayati
raj institutions. This encouraged many CBOs of CRD to contest elec-
tions to the village council. In these workshops along with governance
issues, the participants were drawn into discussions about the declining
sex ratio, combating violence against women, Constitutional guarantees
270 Indian Journal of Gender Studies 25(2)

and the legal rights of women, along with their reproductive rights.
The resource persons used video films, slide shows, posters, audio
cassettes, flash cards, flip charts, flannel boards, play scripts, story books,
songs, educational kits, puppets and case studies to stimulate discus-
sions. As income-generating activities, skill training programmes in
block printing, bag-folder-quilt-making, batik printing and ‘tie and dye’
processing of cloth material were organised. Once women were trained
in the purchase of raw material, in cost–benefit analysis and in the
marketing and sale of their products they were organised under the
Kalyani Cooperative Society of Women. Its work centre and office were
rented right opposite Udwada Railway Station. This facilitated net-
working with women activists of Mumbai and several other cities of
Gujarat.

e
Neeraben understood that it was important to take up the day-to-day

us
survival issues of women along with long-term strategic needs of the
al
women’s movement. While analysing CRD’s action agenda, she noted
that
ci
er

It is not possible to organise women unless some programme of immedi-

m

ate economic benefit is taken up, the welfare work taken up by women’s
om

organizations more recently … does not make women aware of the underly-
ing malaise and is not able to develop a genuine women’s movement. (Desai,
rc

1983, p. 24)
fo

Kalyani trained women in the craft of block printing and bag making.
A group of women from Kalyani would visit wholesale markets in
ot

Mumbai to buy cloth for printing and for bag production. Kalyani used
N

to get regular orders for bags, block printed cloth material, folders,
purses, shoe pouches from all over India as a result of the publicity done
by RCWS. It also managed to get a couple of big orders from Japan,
USA and for mega events at the SNDTWU.

Dialogue between WS
and the Women’s Movement
CRD provided a platform for dialogue among women’s rights activists and
women’s studies scholars, facilitated by the ongoing action programmes
with rural women. In the early 1980s, CRD conducted several empirical
and experimental evidence-based studies through participatory action
research focusing on household strategies of women living in poverty, to
Patel 271

focus on the survival struggles of women heads of households who were

single, divorced, deserted or widowed; prepared background papers for the
Shramshakti Report (Government of India, 1988b) based on the work and
findings of the Commission on Women in the Unorganised Sector and, for
the National Perspective Plan for Women (1988) prepared by the
Government of India. Papers were also prepared on the social construction
of the girl child, and the impact of globalisation on rural women in Pardi
taluka. It was a time when participatory action research and subaltern
studies were gaining ground in the field of social sciences and Neeraben
collaborated with Gujarati-speaking activists in the women’s movement,
namely Trupti Shah, Shiraz Bulsara, Vibhuti Patel, Bakulaben Ghaswala
and Sonal Shukla for need-based research for CRD. These reports were

e
published in the Gujarati quarterly Narimukti during 1986–1996 (Desai,

us
Patel & Shukla, 1986–1996). This process facilitated the interaction of
women’s studies and the women’s movement and created a long-term
al
bond between the two. Hence, women’s studies centres and women’s
ci
rights organisations started involving each other in their activities and
er

gatherings (Government of India, 1988).

Neeraben was sensitive to the dynamics of social movements which
m

in turn shaped individuals, their life and consciousness. This process, she
om

observed,
rc

not merely makes one conscious of discrimination, oppression, injustice but

fo

also allows us to envision possibilities of alternative lifestyles, in viewing

relationships, creating new norms, building new identities, new concerns.
ot

(Desai, 2006, p. 24)

N

In the first National Conference of Women’s Studies in 1981 hosted by

the RCWS, SNDTWU, a wide variety of issues were discussed by
activists, researchers, academicians and policy makers. These included
the developmental process which bypassed women, the gender bias in
textbooks, sexism in the media, gender blindness in science and
technology, legal reforms, health needs of women and violence against
them (rape, domestic violence and prostitution). The general consensus
among the participants—both women and men—was that WS was
pro-women and not neutral. The perspective was that WS should build a
knowledge base to empower women by pressing for change at the policy
level. This would go along with curriculum development to address and
critique gender blindness as well as gender bias within mainstream
academia, to create alternative analytical tools and visions along with
advocacy for women’s developmental needs in the economy and in
272 Indian Journal of Gender Studies 25(2)

society. This Conference started a new trend which resulted in women

activists being invited, as resource persons and participants to academic
seminars, consultations and training workshops (Desai & Patel, 1990).

Activist Researchers
During the 1980s an increasing number of women’s rights activists
became involved in CRD either as independent researchers, consultants,
trainers and resource-persons for seminars and workshops—or as guest
faculty members for mass communication or government training.
Women’s studies scholars from Gujarat also made valuable contributions
by translating creative work such as essays, poetry and short stories in

e
us
Gujarati. Rigorous research on the land rights of women, women in
governance girls and girlhoods, changes in the occupational structure was
al
conducted by scholars actively involved with CRD. Arthat, an academic
ci
quarterly published by the Centre for Social Studies, brought out a special
er

number on women in which scholars contributed research-based papers

(Patel & Shah, 1985). A collective that emerged around CRD also helped
m

with extremely labour-intensive data collection for the Shramshakti Report

om

(1988). They also filled up hundreds of lengthy schedules sent by SEWA’s

founder and then Rajya Sabha member Ela Bhatt, Chairperson of the
rc

Committee for Self Employed and Unorganised Sector Women that was
assigned the task of preparing a voluminous report with use of quantitative
fo

and qualitative research methodologies. Later on when the report came out
ot

in English, a group of eight (Neera Desai, Vibhuti Patel, Sonal Shukla from
N

Mumbai; Ila Pathak from Ahmedabad, Trupti Shah from Vadodara;

Kalpana Shah and Amrapali Desai from Surat; Bakulaben Ghaswala from
Valsad) got together to translate the report into Gujarati, with each taking
responsibility for one chapter. This team of activist-researchers worked
closely also for the publication of Narimukti, and met regularly either in
the Kalyani Cooperative Society of Women, Udwada, or at the Kikarla
Training Centre. Neeraben acted as the link between the local team of the
CRD and women’s organisations such as the Ahmedabad Women’s Action
Group in Ahmedabad, Astitva in Valsad, Sahiyar in Vadodara and Vacha
in Mumbai.
The dual aspect of theory and praxis or academic exercise and action
in WS has been articulated by a past president of the Indian Association
of Women’s Studies (IAWS) as follows:
Women’s studies provide contextualisation of knowledge in the
process of both understanding and changing women’s reality. As a
Patel 273

movement it emphasizes the need for providing material basis for

equality and independence of women. (Krishnaraj, 1986, p. 7)
This approach accepts the dual role of WS as a discourse and as a
movement. There have been critics of this approach who think that if WS
has to be a part of the educational system, it should retain develop and
the dispassionate features of rigorous intellectual activity and objectivity.
But CRD countered this argument and stressed that rigour can be retained
even if women’s studies adopt an interventionist approach. The contact
with the ground reality provides insights, which may not be obtained by
sitting in a ‘distant’ university location. WS has consistently sought to
address the gap between educational institutions and the community.

e
us
Special Needs of Women-headed Households al
In women’s studies, we are repeatedly told that in the peaceful areas of
ci
India, 1/10th of the households are headed by divorced, deserted and
er

single women. In fact, in our country, in conflict-prone areas, over 30 per

m

cent households are headed by women (WHHs). In these, women shoulder

the main economic responsibilities, including house hunting. Even if they
om

have money, they face hurdles while looking out for a rented place or a
house on an ownership basis or for setting up a business or economic
rc

enterprise. The households headed by women tend to be poorer than male-

fo

headed households. Hence, CRD gave special attention to the needs and
demands of WHHs. In all of its researches, action programmes, educational
ot

material, policy recommendations, CRD gave special attention to the

N

health, educational, housing and employment needs of widows, deserted,

divorced and single women. Even while counselling parents, in-laws and
community workers, the special needs of WHHs were emphasised in the
negotiations. Under the leadership of the Director of CRD, Professor
Veena Poonacha, between 2002 and 2011, self-help groups (SHGs) were
formed for the poorest of the poor women in the region (Poonacha,
2008).

Methods of Functioning of CRD

Most of the women who came to be associated with Neeraben and CRD
were averse to authoritarian structures—be they within the family,
educational and religious institutions or society at large. This stemmed
274 Indian Journal of Gender Studies 25(2)

from the realisation that these entities did not allow women to engage in
critical thinking nor a space to grow as independent, cerebral and politically
conscious human beings. Hence, a clear approach was developed to
encourage members of the centre to articulate their thoughts and estab-
lish close working relationships based on collective decision-making
processes. Initially, this method proved very effective in creating a new
cadre of women who were intellectually enlightened, politically articulate,
well informed and supportive to each other within small groups. They
produced documents, position papers, manifestoes, pamphlets and re-
produced documents from the women’s liberation movements in other
parts of India which had a direct bearing on their situation. There was a
tremendous urge to reach out to more and more like-minded women. The
meetings attracted people throbbing with new ideas, who engaged in

e
charged polemics on a wide range of local, national and global issues, even

us
as they reflected a deep concern for the immediate problems of women.
Participants in these meetings believed that women’s issues needed to be
al
taken up on a day-to-day basis and patriarchal power needed to be
ci

challenged in both the ‘personal’ and ‘political’ spheres of life (Desai,

er

2002). They simultaneously started work to support individual women.

m

At the same time, they were keen and committed to maintaining political
om

autonomy and their organisational identity. These groups kept in touch

with others by circulating leaflets in Gujarati. Their gatherings were multi-
rc

class and multi-caste. Women pursuing different occupations—right from

agricultural labourers, industrial working class women, students, teachers,
fo

journalists, writers, researchers and white collar employees shared their

experiences and put forward their demands.
ot

After 2001, due to her deteriorating health and old age Neeraben could
N

not visit CRD. Till she passed away in 2009, I, as member of the core team
of CRD, met her regularly at her residence and sought her advice.

The Impact of Macroeconomic Processes

By the late 1960s, Neera Desai realised that gross national product as a
unidimensional measure of economic development could not explain the
phenomenon of an increasing feminisation of poverty. While criticising
the mainstream macroeconomic policy, both Neera Desai and Maithreyi
Krishnaraj stated that

… the policy of economic development which relies heavily on high technol-

ogy, multinational collaborations, export promotion and encouragement to
private sector paves the way for a higher degree of concentration of capital
Patel 275

and extremely exploitative relations of production having serious implica-

tions for women. (Desai & Krishnaraj, 1985, p. 45)

This is precisely what happened in the post 1991 era in India which had
major implications for CRD’s activities in Udwada. After the wave of
economic globalisation swept the region with neo-liberal policies initiated
in 1991, most of the economic programmes of CRD received a major
setback. The new industrial belt established in South Gujarat took away
young women as industrial workers. In 2013, the SNDTWU authorities
decided to give away the CRD to a corporate house to administer as a
Corporate Social Responsibility. The responsibility for the training centre,
balvadis, SHGs and women’s cooperatives, was transferred to the corporate
house by CRD which then withdrew from rural development work in

e
South Gujarat. Nevertheless, women workers and office bearers of the

us
CRD, mentored by Neeraben continue to be active in the development
sector as trainers, CBOs, consultants, researchers, writers, elected women
al
representatives in local self-government bodies, social workers in CSR
ci

activities and continue to uphold the ethos of CRD. Now they talk in terms
er

of gender sensitisation, practical and strategic gender needs, gender

m

planning and gender budgeting.

om
rc

Conclusion
fo

While working for CRD, Neeraben was driven by her commitment to

develop and evolve new leadership among women which would work
ot

towards social transformation. In her preface to the second edition of her

N

book, Women in Modern India, first published in 1957, she stated,

Indian womanhood is at cross roads. The path of real emancipation is indeed

perilous. However, we bring this book to a close with the confident hope that
Indian womanhood will project the historically needed leadership. (Desai,
1957, p. 294)

Neeraben’s initiatives in CRD were marked by honesty of purpose and

commitment, empathy for the marginalised sections and a feminist
worldview. To her,

The women’s movement is the organized effort to achieve a common goal of

equality and liberation of women and it presupposes sensitiveness to crucial
issues affecting the life of women. (Desai, 1988a, p. ix)
276 Indian Journal of Gender Studies 25(2)

In the beginning, when none of her colleagues came forward to join

her on her visits to South Gujarat, she would sing Tagore’s song ‘Ekla
Cholo re’ (Let us go alone!) and proceed to the railway station to board
a train. Once Kumud Shanbag joined her, Neeraben’s enthusiasm was
enhanced manifold. Both senior citizens would also venture travelling to
Udwada by train without making a reservation. But their friendly manner
would ensure them seats in the II class unreserved and over-crowded com-
partment of the long-distance train and during their journey over the next
four hours their co-passengers would get a crash course in women’s
studies. Many of them ended up becoming sympathisers of CRD.
CRD’s training programmes for women emphasised Constitutional
guarantees and legal remedies as Neeraben maintained that

e
us
In the women’s studies movement, creating awareness about the existing legal
system has been an accepted genre of work. Most of the camps and programmes
al
of awareness-raising have an integral component of legal literacy. In fact these
ci
are the sessions which provoke articulation from otherwise quiet participants.
Various groups have tried to present information material on the legal position
er

of women, highlighting most relevant clauses of the law. (Desai, 1986)

m
om

CRD generated valuable learning resources along with being a service

provider. Interventions by the CRD helped the rural women to face the
rc

day-to-day survival issues and enriched the quality of data and analytical
rigour reflected in base line papers prepared for the Shramshakti Report
fo

(1988) and the National Perspective Plan for Women (1988). Sustained
ot

work with rural women over 25 years (from 1976 to 2001) by Neeraben
and her core team make a convincing case in support of feminist
N

pedagogy and the need for conceptualisation, keeping in mind local

sensibilities and envisioning intervention strategies. This critical thinking
is reflected in Neeraben’s last and extremely valuable publication
Feminism as Experience—Thoughts and Narratives. The life and work
of earlier feminists in Western India has a strong bearing on her own
involvement in CRD. She encouraged so many women-encompassing
four generations to emerge as leaders in various spheres through the
Women’s Leadership Programmes for Community Development and
Capacity Building Workshops for Women in Decision Making and PRIs,
‘Legal Literacy classes’, and sessions on ‘Demystification of family
laws and customary laws’. She remained involved with the counselling
of women survivors of domestic violence, dowry harassment, rape and
sexual harassment to help them rebuild their shattered lives. Displaying
Patel 277

Figure 1. Head quarter of Centre for Rural Development in Udwada

village of Paradi Taluka.

e
us
al
ci
er
m
om
rc

Source: Retrieved 20 March 2018, from https://www.mapsofindia.com/maps/

fo

gujarat/districts/valsad.htm
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Figure 2. Villages covered by Centre for Rural Development situated in

N

Pardi Taluka in Valsad District

Source: Retrieved 20 March 2018, from http://www.onefivenine.com/india/villag/

Valsad
278 Indian Journal of Gender Studies 25(2)

tremendous courage of conviction and self-confidence in the path she

had chosen, she made women around her also feel more secure. Her
mild-mannered, respectful and courteous interaction with her colleagues,
combined with principled positions and paying attention to long-term
strategies made all those who came in contact with her, her lifelong
supporters. That is why and how a resident of Mumbai managed to
develop a sustainable rural development programme and expand its
spheres of activity continuously for three decades in the rural hinterland
of Gujarat.
In March 1985, at the end of the National Conference on Women’s
Movement in India, hosted by the Research Centre for Women’s Studies
to mark the end of the UN Decade on Women, as an organiser Neeraben
concluded her speech in these words, ‘the struggle for establishing

e
gender justice is a long haul and requiring solidarity, support and constant

us
evaluation of the situation’ (Desai, 1988a, p. ix). The experiences of
al
CRD proved this. Nevertheless, she retained and reflected an eternal
optimism about the women’s liberation movement, maintaining that
ci
er

in spite of various hurdles, Indian women, through their own strengths, col-
m

lective struggles, the support of sensitive human rights activists and some
om

enabling policies have moved towards gender equality. Though the path
is long and full of challenges, the journey will have to continue. (Desai &
Thakkar, 2001, p. 199)
rc
fo

Notes
1. Retrieved 10 July 2016, from http://indikosh.com/subd/551144/pardi
ot

2. Report on the Status of Women in India, Ministry of Women and Child

N

Development, GoI. Retrieved 20 September 2017, from wcd.nic.in/sites/

default/files/Executive Summary_HLC.pdf
3. Dr A. R. Desai and Dr Neera Desai edited a series Samaj Vignan Mala
(i.e., Social Science Series) in Gujarati. In this series, one book co-authored
by them titled Vartaman Shikshan Vyavastha (i.e., Present Education System)
projects their perspective.

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