Dakshayani Velayudhan

Dakshayani Velayudhan (4 July 1912 – 20 July 1978) was an Indian parliamentarian and leader of the Depressed Classes. Belonging to the Pulaya community, she was among the first generation of people to be educated from the community. She holds several distinctions including becoming the first woman from her community to wear an upper cloth, the first dalit woman graduate in India, a science graduate, a member of the Cochin Legislative Council and of being one of nine female members of the Constituent Assembly of India.

Dakshayani was born in the Mulavukad village of the Kanayannur taluka of Ernakulam district in 1912. She completed her B.A. in 1935 and went on to complete her teachers' training course from the Madras University three years later. Her studies were supported by scholarships from the government of the Cochin State. From 1935 to 1945 she worked as a teacher at the Government High Schools in Trichur and Tripunithura.

Dakshayani belonged to the Pulaya community and was the younger sister of the social reformer and legislator K. P. Vallon. She married R. Velayudhan a dalit leader and later Member of Parliament. Their wedding was held at Sevagram in Wardha with Gandhi and Kasturba as witnesses and a leper standing in as the priest. The couple had five children including a daughter, Meera. She was also related to K R Narayanan who later became the President of India.

...
Wikipedia