Proposals made by the social reformers to reform the Indian society:
(i) In order to eradicate the social evils from the society, the social reformers of the country began to bring radical changes in the society. They had two main objectives – to eradicate evils and superstitions that existed in the Indian society and to ensure equal civil rights to education, to travel and their dress code.
(ii) Some of the reformers took up the challenges to eradicate the caste system, to introduce girl’s education, promote widow remarriage, abolish child marriage, provide education to all, and protect the rights of the people.
(iii) Raja Ram Mohan Roy is regarded as the pioneer in the reform movement. He worked for the upliftment of women, supported women education and widow remarriage. He strongly opposed Sati system and also opposed child marriage and polygamy.
(iv) He started a Bengali journal, SambadKaumudi, and a Persian newspaper, Mirat-ul-Akbar and founded the Brahmo Samaj in Bengal in 1828. He thought for the emancipation of women and advocated for the right of a women to inherit property.
(v) Besides Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar argued for remarriage of widows in Bengal which resulted the passing of the Widow Remarriage Act in 1856. He established educational institutions for women in India. One such kind of an institution was established in Bombay by Pandita Ramabai and it was named Sarada Sadan.
