Durgābāi Deshmukh, Lady Deshmukh (Rajahmundry, 15 July 1909 – 9 May 1981) was an Indian freedom fighter, lawyer, social worker and politician. She was a member of the Constituent Assembly of India and of the Planning Commission of India.

    A public activist for women’s emancipation, she founded the Andhra Mahila Sabha (Andhra Women’s Conference) in 1937. She was also the founder chairperson of the Central Social Welfare Board. In 1953, she married C.D. Deshmukh, the first Indian governor of the Reserve Bank of India and Finance Minister in India’s Central Cabinet during 1950-1956.

Early life

   Born on July 15, 1909 at Rajahmundry in the coastal east Godavari district of present-day Andhra Pradesh to social worker B. V. N. Rama Rao and his wife Krishnavenamma, Durgabai spent her formative years in Kakinada. From an early age, she was sensitive to the ubiquity of social inequity and suffering.....