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Abstract
A galaxy of social revolutionaries and a few reform minded elites emerged in the nineteenth century to weed out societal obstacles that stood in the way of women’s emancipation and development. Of all the reformers, Periyar E.V. Ramasamy (E.V.R.) alone attacked for the first time, the ideological basis of the “enslavement of women” in society. E.V.R. worked for the cause of women during his seven decades of public service with well disciplined supporters and followers. His papers and organisations came to his defense against vituperative attacks and brickbats. It is a well known fact that to retrieve the “marginalized section” (women) of the society from the “dominant culture”, E.V.R took up the cause of women as his life mission right from the day when he entered the public service. Through propaganda tour and platform speeches and through social organizations E.V.R. courageously met the forces of orthodoxy and reactionaries. In this, Periyar’s contribution towards women’s welfare particularly his propaganda where ever he goes to meet the people and vigorously shouted the oppression and depression of women society till his dead.