Timeline of women's achievements in India

The steady change in the position of women can be highlighted by looking at what has been achieved by women in the country:

• 1848: Savitribai Phule, along with her husband Jyotirao Phule, opened a school for girls in Pune, India. Savitribai Phule became the first woman teacher in India.
• 1879: John Elliot Drinkwater Bethune inaugurated the Bethune School in 1849, which developed into the Bethune College in 1879, thus becoming the first women's college in India.
• 1883: Chandramukhi Basu and Kadambini Ganguly became the first female graduates of India and the British Empire.
• 1886: Kadambini Ganguly along with Anandi Gopal Joshi became the first women of India to be trained in Western medicine.
• 1898: Sister Nivedita Girls' School was inaugurated
• 1905: Suzanne RD Tata becomes the first Indian woman to drive a car.
• 1916: The first women's university, SNDT Women's University, was founded on 2 June 1916 by the social reformer Dhondo Keshav Karve along with five students.
• 1917: Annie Besant became the first female president of the Indian National Congress.
• 1919: For her distinguished social service, Pandita Ramabai was honored and became the first Indian woman to be awarded the Kaiser-i-Hind Medal by the British Raj.
• 1925: Sarojini Naidu became the first Indian born female president of the Indian National Congress.
• 1927: The All India Women's Conference was founded.
• 1936: Sarla Thakral became the first Indian woman to fly an aircraft.
• 1944: Asima Chatterjee became the first Indian woman to be conferred the Doctorate of Science by an Indian university.
• 1947: On August 15,1947, after independence, Sarojini Naidu, a freedom fighter, and a poet became the governor of the United Provinces, and in the process became India's first woman governor. On the same day, Amrit Kaur assumed office as the first female Cabinet minister of India in the country's first cabinet.
• 1951: Prem Mathur of the Deccan Airways becomes the first Indian woman commercial pilot.


Indira Gandhi became the first female Prime Minister of India in 1966.
• 1953: Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit became the first woman (and first Indian) president of the United Nations General Assembly
• 1954: Ramakrishna Sarada Mission was formed for women monks.
• 1959: Anna Chandy becomes the first Indian woman judge of a High Court (Kerala High Court)
• 1963: Sucheta Kriplani became the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, the first woman to hold that position in any Indian state.
• 1966: Captain Durga Banerjee who started her aviation career flying a Dakota becomes the 1st Indian woman pilot of the state airline, Indian Airlines.
• 1966: Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay wins Ramon Magsaysay award for community leadership.
• 1966: Indira Gandhi becomes the first woman Prime Minister of India
• 1970: Kamaljit Sandhu becomes the first Indian woman to win a Gold in the Asian Games
• 1972: Kiran Bedi becomes the first female recruit to join the Indian Police Service.^[53]
• 1979: Mother Teresa wins the Nobel Peace Prize, becoming the first Indian female citizen to do so.
• 1984: On 23 May, Bachendri Pal became the first Indian woman to climb Mount Everest.
• 1986: Surekha Yadav became the first Asian woman loco-pilot or railway driver.
• 1989: Justice M. Fathima Beevi becomes the first woman judge of the Supreme Court of India.
• 1991: Mumtaz Kazi became the first Asian woman to drive a diesel locomotive in September.
• 1992: Priya Jhingan becomes the first lady cadet to join the Indian Army (later commissioned on 6 March 1993)


Kalpana Chawla, NASA photo portrait in orange suit
• 1999: On 31 October, Sonia Gandhi became the first female Leader of the Opposition (India).
• 2007: On 25 July, Pratibha Patil became the first female President of India.
• 2009: On 4 June, Meira Kumar became the first female Speaker of Lok Sabha.
• 2011: On 20 October, Priyanka N. drove the inaugural train of the Namma Metro becoming the first female Indian metro pilot.
• 2011: Mitali Madhumita made history by becoming the first woman officer to win a Sena Medal for gallantry.
• 2014: A record 7 female ministers are appointed in the Modi ministry, of whom 6 hold Cabinet rank, the highest number of female Cabinet ministers in any Indian government in history.
• 2017: On 25 March, Tanushree Pareek became the first female combat officer commissioned by the Border Security Force.