Firsts in India - Women

1. The first Indian woman to be awarded the Bharat Ratna - Smt Indira Gandhi.
2. The first lady Governor of an Indian state was Smt Sarojini Naidu.
3. The first lady Chief Minister of State was Smt Sucheta Kripalani.
4. The first lady Central minister of the country was Smt Rajkumari Amrit Kaur.
5. The first woman president of the Indian National Congress was Annie Besant.
6. The first woman to become the Chief Election Commissioner was Mrs Rama Devi.
7. The first Indian woman to be appointed as the Chief Information Commissioner - Deepak
Sandhu.
8. The first woman to be appointed the Speaker of Lok Sabha is Mrs Meira Kumar.
9. The first woman president of UN General Assembly - Mrs Vijayalaxmi Pandit.
10. The first woman advocate of India was Cornelia Sorabjee.
11. The first woman judge of India and also the first woman judge of High Court was Justice
Anna Chandy.
12. The first woman to be appointed Chief Justice of a state High Court was Justice Leila
Seth.
13. The first woman to be appointed judge of the Supreme Court was Justice M Fatima
Beevi.
14. The first Indian woman to swim the English Channel was Aarti Saha.
15. The first Indian woman to win an Olympic medal was Karnam Malleswari.
16. The first Indian woman to win an Asiad medal - Kamaljit Sandhu.
17. The first Indian woman to climb Mt Everest - Bachendri Pal.
18. The first Indian woman to ski to the South Pole - Reena Kaushal DharmaShaktu
19. The first Indian woman to receive a gallantry award in the Indian Army (Sena Medal for
her acts of bravery in Afghanistan) - Major Mitali Madhumita.
20. The first Indian woman to join the Territorial Army as a jawan - Shanti Tigga.
21. The first Indian woman to win the Miss Asia-Pacific title - Zeenat Aman.
22. The first Indian woman to win the Miss Universe title - Sushmita Sen.
23. The first Indian woman to win the Miss World title - Reita Faria.
24. The first Indian woman to win the Miss Earth title - Nicol Faria.
25. The first Indian woman to be appointed as the Minister of External Affairs of India -
Sushma Swaraj. (Note: Mrs. Indira Gandhi held the additional charge as Minister of
External Affairs while being the Prime Minister of India.)
First Women's University
Maharshi Karve starts SNDT University in Pune with five students in 1916.
First Woman to hold a Union Cabinet post
Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit
First Woman to hold a Union Foreign Minister's post
Sushma Swaraj(2014)
First Woman youngest minister of a state
Sushma Swaraj (She became the cabinet minister of Haryana when she was only 25 yrs old)
First Woman governor of Independent India
Sarojini Naidu, in charge of United Provinces
First Woman president of UN General Assembly
Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit (1953)
First Woman Prime Minister of India
Indira Gandhi (1966)
First Woman IPS Officer of India
Kiran Bedi (1972)
First Woman to win Nobel Peace Prize
Mother Teresa (1979)
First Indian Woman to climb Mount Everest
Bachendri Pal (1984)
First Indian Woman to win Booker Prize
Arundhati Roy (1997)
First Woman President
Pratibha Patil (2007)
First Woman Speaker of Lok Sabha
Meira Kumar (2009)
First Indian Woman to become "Miss World"
Rita Faria
First Woman judge in Supreme Court
Mrs. Meera Sahib Fatima Bibi
First Woman Ambassador
Miss C. B. Muthamma
First Woman to climb Mount Everest twice
Santosh Yadav
First Woman President of the Indian National Congress
Mrs. Annie Besant
First Woman Chief Minister of an Indian State
Mrs. Sucheta Kripalani
First Woman chairman of Union Public Service Commission
Roze Millian Bethew
First Woman Director General of Police (DGP)
Kanchan Chaudhary Bhattacharya
First Woman Lieutenant General
Puneeta Arora
First Woman Air Vice Marshal
P. Bandopadhyaya
First Woman chairperson of Indian Airlines
Sushama Chawala
First & Last Muslim Woman ruler of Delhi
Razia Sultana
First Woman to receive Ashoka Chakra
Niraja Bhanot
First Woman to cross English Channel
Arati Saha
First Woman to receive Bharat Ratna
Indira Gandhi
First Woman to receive Gyanpith Award
Ashapurna Devi
First Woman Headmistress in school
Savitribai Phule
First Indian woman who reached Antarctica
Mahel Musa
First Indian woman who become an individual member of International Olympic
Committee
Nita Ambani (2016)
First Indian woman mountaineer to scale the seven continental peaks
Premlata Agrawal
First woman amputee to scale Everest
Arunima Sinha
First twins ever to conquer Mount Everest
Tashi and Nancy Malik
First Indian woman scientist selected as fellow in London's Royal Society
Gagandeep Kang
First women defense Minister of India
Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman
First woman Finance Minister of India
Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman
First woman Chief Minister of Delhi
Smt. Sushma Swaraj
First woman appointed as UN civilian police adviser
Kiran Bedi (India)
First Woman Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan
Shamshad Akhtar (Dec. 2005)
First Woman Swimmer to cross Seven Seas in the World
Bula Choudhary (India)
The most successful female climber of Mount Everest
Lhakpa Sherpa (Nepal)
The Woman with the highest individual Test Score in Women's Test Cricket
Kiran Baloch
India's first Female Train Driver Surekha Yadav
India's first Female Tabla Maestro Dr. Aban E. Mistry
India's first Female recognized as Billionth Citizen Astha Arora
India's first Female to fly an Aircraft Sarla Thakral
First Female Secretary General of Rajya Sabha in
V. S. Ramadevi
India
India's first Female to hold a Union Cabinet Post
Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit
in Pre-Independent India.
First Indian Woman to get Nobel Prize Mother Teresa
First Indian Female to swim across English
Arati Saha
Channel
First Indian Woman to complete her MBBS Kadambini Ganguly
First Indian Woman Chief Engineer P. K. Tresia Nanguli
First Indian Woman to reach Antarctica Meher Moos in 1976
First Indian Woman Foreign Secretary Nirupama Menon Rao
India’s first Woman Commercial Pilot Prem Mathur of Deccan Airways
India’s first Woman Sahitya Award Winner Amrita Pritam
India's first Woman to be elected as the General
Dr. Asima Chatterjee
President of the Indian Science Congress
India’s first Woman to win WTA Tennis
Sania Mirza
Tournament
First Indian Woman as Chief Justice of Mumbai
Sujata Manohar
High Court
First Indian Woman to receive Jnanpith Award Ashapoorna Devi
First Indian Woman Barrister Cornelia Sorabji
First Indian woman mountaineer to scale the seven
Premlata Agarwal
continental peaks
First Indian woman amputee to scale Everest Arunima Sinha
First Indian Woman Chairman of Indian Banks
Usha Ananthasubramanian
Association
First Woman Chairperson of National Woman
Mrs. Jayanti Patnaik
Commission
First Indian Woman to receive Asiad Gold Medal Kamaljeet Sandhu
First Indian Woman Speaker of State Assembly of
Shanno Devi
India
First Actress in the Indian Cinema Devika Rani
First Indian Woman Headmistress in school Savitribai Phule
First Indian Woman Doordarshan News Reader Pratima Puri
First Indian Woman to reach in Olympic Games Sini Abraham
First Indian Woman to receive Norman Borlaug
Dr. Amrita Patel
Award
India's first woman IAS officer after Independence Anna Rajam Malhotra
India’s first Woman President of Student's Union Anju Sachdeva of Delhi University
India’s first Woman Chairperson of Rajya Sabha Violet Hari Alva