Chandraprabha Saikiani is a name which inspires manifold feelingsawe, reverence, wonder, a name which epitomizes the sublime qualities of womanhood, of all that a woman is rarely capable of being. Born in the year 1901 to Gangapria and Ratiram, the village headman of Daisingari village of undivided Kamrup District (Now Barpeta Dist.) in Assam. Chandraprabha faced untold hardships while going to study at a boys' school which was 3 miles away from their village. Chandraprabha Saikiani was completing her education in Nagaon. As a young girl of seventeen, Chandraprabha attended the Asom Chatra Sanmilan, the students' conference held at Tezpur in 1918.
Inspired by Gandhiji's clarion call to womenfolk to join the national movement, Chandraprabha joined the Non-co-operation movement in 1921. Chandraprabha's revolutionary zeal came to force in 1925 during the Nagaon session of the Assam Sahitya Sabha, held under the presidentship of eminent novelist Rajanikanta Bardoloi. Directing her energies in organizing the women in the village and bringing various women organisations through out the state under one banner, The Assam Pradeshik Mahila Samiti was born in 1926 under her leadership. She was jailed in 1930 for the first time. Chandraprabha Saikiani breathed her last on March 16, 1972, the day she was born. For her selfless work and dedication she was honoured with 'Padmashree'. The firebrand lady of Assam is also being honoured by the Government of India with the release of a commemorative postage stamp.
