WOMEN EMPOWERMENT INITIATIVES OF THE UNIVERSITY GRANTS COMMISSION – A STUDY FOR THE PERIOD 2015-16 TO 2020-21

Education plays a critical role in empowerment of an individual. In its commitment to provide ‘Quality Higher Education for all', and promoting gender equity through education, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has initiated certain scholarships and other schemes for empowerment of women and girl students. This is a study of the selected schemes of the UGC and performance during the period 2015-16 to 2020-21. Secondary Data collected from the Annual Reports of the Commission revealed under-utilisation of available scholarships and fellowships. There is a need to enhance the awareness about the schemes of women empowerment. The scheme for Women Studies Centres in Universities and Colleges was enlarged to include the Scheme of Capacity Building of Women Managers in Higher Education in the twelfth plan. Presently there are 159 Women Studies Centres in various Universities and Colleges across the country. The performance of scheme for construction of women hostels has also been studied. During the year 2017-18, there were maximum beneficiaries for Post-Doctoral Fellowship for Women and Indira Gandhi Post-Graduate Scholarship for Single Girl Child. There is a need to create awareness about the ‘Saksham' Portal and enhance the participation of women in research activities.