Translation of an excerpt from the book Dr. Keshav Baliram Hedgewar written in Hindi by Dr. Rakesh Sinha. Publications Division 2003 Edition.

Dr. Keshav Baliram Hedgewar – Writer Rakesh Sinha. Page 208

He (Dr. Hedgewar) was an admirer of women’s participation in public life. That is why women leaders were invited for lectures in the Sangh’s shakhas and camps. The Akhil Bharatiya Mahila Parishad supported the Sangh’s vision of social reform. Its President Rajkumari Amrit Kunwar and other members, including the Deputy Speaker of the State Legislative Assembly Anasuya Bai Kale, had come to the Sangh camp in Nagpur on 28 December 1937.

This was not the first incident. Even before this, women leaders and social workers working in public life were invited. Congress leader Kamalabai also gave speech at the Sangh’s sakha in Konkan on 21 November 1938.

Similarly, Parvatibai Chitnavis was the chief guest at the annual festival of the Nagpur branch of the Sangh on 9 December 1934. Ramabai Tambe, a nominated member of the Central Province Legislative Assembly, was an admirer of the Sangh. How keen Dr. Hedgewar was about participation of women in the social, political and cultural fields can be gauged from the fact that he was the source of inspiration for one of the oldest women’s organizations in the country – Rashtra Sevika Samiti. By instilling confidence and courage in the women workers who were inspired by the Sangh, he inspired them to lay the foundation of an independent organization form women. Two women’s organizations- Rashtra Sevika Samiti (Wardha) and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (Bhandara) were established in the Central Province in 1935-36. Both the organizations were merged in October 1936. The organization imparts ideological and physical training to women.