. During Gandhi’s salt march, thousands of women came out from their homes to listen to him. . They participated in protest marches, manufactured salt and picketed foreign cloth and liquor shops. . Many went to jail in urban areas. . They considered service to the nation as a sacred duty of women. . Yet, increased public role did not necessarily mean any radical change in the way the position of women was visualised. And for a long time, the Congress was reluctant to allow women to hold any position of authority within the organisation. It was keen only on their symbolic presence.