Abstract

When Parvathi Krishnan (MP, Coimbatore Madras) entered India’s parliament on 28 March 1958, it was just a regular workday. She questioned a government minister about his policies toward railway workers, and solicited funds to repair a post office in her constituency. And yet as a woman legislator, she balanced the everyday tasks of governance with the difficulties of functioning in a male-centred institution. This essay, based on research in legislative debates in Madras and Bihar as well as in parliament, argues that especially for the period from 1957 to 1962, when so much of the legislative process was still in flux, women legislators challenged government structures even as they participated in making them. Their work—for the state and for their constituents—necessarily shaped the institutions to which they were elected. Looking beyond high-profile policies like the Five-Year Plans, this essay reveals the complex task of governing and the critical roles of women in it.

摘要

当 Parvathi Krishnan（国会议员，哥印拜陀马德拉斯）于 1958 年 3 月 28 日进入印度议会时，这只是一个正常的工作日。她向一位政府部长询问了他对铁路工人的政策，并为她所在选区的一家邮局筹集资金。然而，作为一名女性立法者，她平衡了日常治理任务与在以男性为中心的机构中运作的困难。这篇文章基于对马德拉斯和比哈尔邦以及议会的立法辩论的研究，认为特别是在 1957 年至 1962 年期间，立法程序的大部分仍在不断变化，女性立法者挑战政府结构，即使她们参与制作它们。他们的工作 - 对国家以及他们的成员 - 必然塑造了他们所选的机构。