- Born on July 3, 1897 to the Dewan of Baroda ManubhaiNandshankar Mehta, Hansa Mehta was a reformer, educator and a prolific writer.
- In 1920, while in London, Mehta met Sarojini Naidu who would later introduce her to Mahatma Gandhi and the Indian women’s freedom movement.
- Mehta’s political career was marked by her 1937 Bombay Legislative Council election win.
- Having refused to contest from a reserved seat, she took on the elections as a general category candidate. Mehta remained on the council until 1949.
- Mehta became closely involved with the All India Women’s Conference and became its president in 1946.
- During her presidency, Hansa drafted the Indian Women’s Charter of Rights and Duties, which demanded gender equality and civil rights for women.
- In 1946, Mehta served as a member of the United Nations sub-committee on the status of women.
- She was the vice-chair with Eleanor Roosevelt of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights Committee.
- Mehta was one of the 15 women framers of the Indian Constitution. She was elected to the Constituent Assembly from Bombay under a Congress Party ticket.
- In the Assembly, Mehta strongly argued in favour of women’s rights and intervened in debates on uniform civil code and reservation.
- Mehta played a significant role in ensuring that Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (‘UDHR’) was made inclusive.
- Hansa later went on to become the vice chairman of the Human Rights Commission of the United Nations in 1950. She was also a member of the Executive Board of UNESCO.
- The Indian government awarded Hansa with the Padma Bhushan in 1959.