The participation of women in India's Freedom Movement has often been narrated through the contributions of prominent national leaders, leaving the role of grassroots women largely unexplored. This study focuses on the women volunteers of Ganjam district in Odisha and highlights their significant yet forgotten contribution to the freedom struggle. Despite Social restrictions, economic hardship, and participated patriarchal norm's, women from Ganjam actively participated in nationalist activities such as organizing meeting, spreading awareness of Swadeshi Ideals, boycotting foreign goods, picketing Liquor shops, sheltering Freedom Fighters and participating in Civil Disobedience movement. Many of them worked as Messengers, Fund Collectors, and satyagrahis, facing Imprisonment, harassment, and social ostracism. Their involvement not only strengthened movement at the local level but also changed traditional gender roles and inspired collective political consciousness among rural women. This paper attempts to reconstruct their contributions using available historical records, oral histories and local narratives. By bringing this over looked voice to the forefront, the study seeks to acknowledge the crucial role played by women volunteers of Ganjam in Indias struggle for Independence and to contribute to more Inclusive understanding of nationalist History.
Behera et al. (Thu,) studied this question.