Saroj Nalini Dutt


Saroj Nalini Dutt, MBE, was an Indian feminist and social reformer.

Background

She was born in her father, Brajendranath De’s, country house in Bandel, near Hooghly, in Bengal Province. She was brought up with her brothers and sisters and shared with them an education under a tutor and a governess. Members of her paternal family frequently visited the Brahmo Sammilan Samaj in Bhowanipore, Calcutta.
In 1905, she married Gurusaday Dutt. Her only child, Birendrasaday Dutt, was born in 1909.

Work

She was a reformer and a pioneer of the movement for the uplifting of women in Bengal. She pioneered the formation of Mahila Samitis in Bengal. She started her first Mahila Samiti in 1913 in Pabna district with the object of developing friendly cooperation among the purdahnashin ladies. Subsequently, she started the Mahila Samitis of Birbhum, Sultanpur, and Rampurhat districts respectively.
She was the secretary of the Indian Section of the Calcutta League of Women’s Workers, member of the Council of the Nari Siksha Samiti, and Member of the Calcutta Municipal Corporation’s committee which was to make suitable arrangements for allowing women to elect councillors. She was also the vice president of the Sylhet Union, an association set up for the promotion of female education in Sylhet district.

Death

She died suddenly of jaundice on 19 January 1925.

Awards

Institutions named after her: