Summary of this article

Laxmibai Kelkar founded the Rashtra Sevika Samiti on October 25, 1936, to provide women a space within the Hindutva movement.

The Samiti has around four lakh active members across 4,125 branches in India. Its projects include schools, health camps, and disaster relief, yet critics note tension between combat training and emphasising motherhood.

Tanika Sarkar argues that the Samiti empowered women only within traditional domestic roles, using communal mobilisation during the Ram Janmabhoomi movement to reinforce conservative gender norms.

Suvarna tightened the pleats of her saree, her movements precise. There was no time for idle chatter, her eyes fixed on the task at hand. Around her, vessels clattered as she garnished food, preparing offerings for the ancestors

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