AGARTALA, April 21 (TIWN): The All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA), the women's wing of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Thursday hold conference at khudiram Bose School.

Pappa Umanath founded the Democratic Women's Association in Tamil Nadu in 1973, working for women's rights and for their education, employment and status, along with issues like casteism, Communalism, child rights and disaster aid.  Several other affiliated State-based organisations developed, and the unified All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA) was established in 1981.

AIDWA has an annual membership fee of one rupee, which allows it policy-independence from donor agencies and government. In 2007, it had over 10 million members, spread across the nation.

The first National Conference of AIDWA was held at Chennai in 1981, with delegates from 12 states representing 590,000 members. The eighth National Conference was held at Kolkata in 2007, with 951 delegates from 23 states, representing a membership of around 18,600,000. Former West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu addressed the inaugural session.