Founder of India's first women's studies program dies

Dr Neera Desai, a founder of India's first women's studies program, the Research Centre for Women's Studies at SNDT Women's University, passed away last Thursday from cancer at the age of 84. Professor Vibhuti Patel, a colleague and friend of Desai and the director of department of Post-Graduate Studies and Research at SNDT said:

"I had been working with her since 1977. In all these years that I had known her, I thought of her as a warm person who was forever motivating and ever ready to experiment with new ideas. She was a major institution builder. This is a period when women's studies is coming of age. However, she started work in this field in the early 50s and for over two decades fought a lone battle to raise awareness about the same till the 70s when she began garnering support from several quarters."

She wrote a number of books on women's rights and feminism in India, including Women in Modern India (1952) and Feminism in Western India (2004). She was nominated for 1000 Women for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005.

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