The women’s questions arose in modern India as a part of the 19th century social reform movement. What were the major issues and debates concerning women in that period ?
Approach · directive: “what”
What it asks · List the main issues (sati, widows, child marriage, education, infanticide) and the debates around them: reform versus tradition, law versus persuasion and social reform versus politics.
The question has 2 parts — answer each
- List the major issues concerning women: sati, widow remarriage, child marriage and age of consent, female infanticide, education
- Bring out the debates around them: scripture and reason, law and persuasion, social reform and politics, women's own voice
Open with · Nineteenth-century reformers such as Ram Mohan Roy, Vidyasagar, Phule and Ranade made the condition of women the test of social reform, and their efforts produced both laws and sharp controversy.
Cover
- Sati: Ram Mohan Roy's campaign and Bentinck's regulation of 1829 banned it, with the argument that scripture did not compel it.
- Widows: Vidyasagar's campaign led to the Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act, 1856; Karve's widow home (1896) and Pandita Ramabai's work offered widows education and a life.
- Child marriage and age of consent: the Native Marriage (Brahmo) Act, 1872 fixed minimum ages of 14 for girls and 18 for boys for those marrying under it; after the Phulmoni Dasi case (1889), the Age of Consent Act, 1891 raised the age of consent within marriage from 10 to 12, provoking opposition.
- Female infanticide: British laws such as the Female Infanticide Prevention Act, 1870 (first applied to Punjab, the North-Western Provinces and Oudh) and reformers targeted the killing of girl infants.
- Education: the Phules' schools for girls (1848), the Bethune School (1849) and Brahmo Samaj efforts promoted women's education against orthodox resistance.
- Debates: tradition versus reason; State legislation versus persuasion; Tilak's objection to colonial legislation on social customs against the support of Ranade and Malabari for reform laws.
- Women's own voice: Tarabai Shinde's 'Stri Purush Tulana' (1882) and Ramabai's writings challenged patriarchal norms.
Close with · Reformers largely saw women as objects of reform rather than agents, but the questions they raised on rights, education and equality carried into the twentieth-century women's movement.
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2017, GS Paper I — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·
Model answer · 284 words (UPSC limit 250) · Minimalist IAS
Nineteenth-century reformers such as Ram Mohan Roy, Vidyasagar, Phule and Ranade made the condition of women the test of social reform, and their efforts produced both laws and sharp controversy.
Major issues
- Sati: Ram Mohan Roy's campaign and Bentinck's regulation of 1829 banned it, on the argument that scripture did not compel it.
- Widows: Vidyasagar's campaign produced the Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act, 1856; Karve's widow home (1896) and Pandita Ramabai's work gave widows education and a livelihood.
- Child marriage and age of consent: the Native Marriage (Brahmo) Act, 1872 fixed 14 for girls and 18 for boys for those marrying under it; after the Phulmoni Dasi case (1889), the Age of Consent Act, 1891 raised the age of consent within marriage from 10 to 12.
- Female infanticide: the Female Infanticide Prevention Act, 1870, first applied in Punjab, the North-Western Provinces and Oudh, targeted the killing of girl infants.
- Education: the Phules' schools for girls (1848), the Bethune School (1849) and Brahmo Samaj efforts promoted women's schooling against orthodox resistance.
The debates
- Scripture versus reason: reformers argued from the sacred texts and from reason alike, while the orthodox defended custom as religion.
- Law versus persuasion: Ranade and Malabari sought State legislation, whereas Tilak objected to a colonial government legislating on Hindu custom, as the 1891 controversy showed.
- Social reform versus politics: whether social change should precede political freedom or follow it divided reformers from many Congress leaders.
- Women's own voice: Tarabai Shinde's 'Stri Purush Tulana' (1882) and Ramabai's writings challenged patriarchy itself, going beyond the male reformers' agenda.
Reformers mostly treated women as objects of reform rather than agents, yet the questions they raised on rights, education and equality carried into the twentieth-century women's movement.
Written by Minimalist IAS from facts checked at source (how we verify) — a little fuller than exam length, so every part of the question is covered; in the hall, keep the structure and trim the detail. UPSC publishes no model answers: compare your structure and coverage with this, then write your own.