UGC Chairs in the name of Women Icons of India – Unique initiative of the Ministry of Women and Child Development

On the occasion of National Girl Child Day, the Ministry of Women and Child Development has proposed to set up 10 Chairs in different fields with an aim to carry out research activities to encourage women. The initiative called Establishment of Chairs in the Universities in the name of eminent women administrators, artists, scientists and social reformers is being launched with the assistance of University Grants Commission (UGC). The main objective is to inspire women to pursue higher education and to achieve excellence in their area of work. This initiative of highlighting and celebrating women achievers of the country will motivate young girls and women towards higher studies.

Academic functions of the Chairs will be to engage in research and, in turn, contribute to the advancement of knowledge in the area of the study, strengthen the role of university/academics in public policy making and to design and execute short-term capacity-building programmes for teachers in higher education focused towards the designated discipline of the Chair. The other academic functions will be to provide a forum for inter-university/ inter- collegiate Post Graduate and Research level dialogues, discussion meetings, seminars/summer & winter schools, publish articles/research papers/reports/books/ monograms and participate in teaching and Ph.D programme of the Department or School in which it is located.

The University will review the progress of the Chair annually and submit a final report on the activities and outcome of the Chair to the UGC after five years. However, the UGC may undertake the exercise of reviewing the Chair for its continuance, at any stage.

The chairs proposed by UGC and approved by the Ministry are as under:

Union Minister of Women and Child Development Smt. Smriti Irani tweeted about the initiative and said that “On #NationalGirlChildDay, I am pleased to share that @MinistryWCD has entrusted @ugc_india to establish 10 Chairs in the names of eminent women who have achieved major breakthrough in the fields of academics, art, science, environment, administration & social development.” She further wrote that the chairs established after Devi Ahilyabai Holkar, Mahadevi Varma, Rani Gaidinliu, Anandibai Joshi, M S Subbulakshmi, Amrita Devi (Beniwal), Lilavati, Kamala Sohonie, Lal Ded & Hansa Mehta, reflect what women can achieve when one truly imbibes #BetiBachaoBetiPadhao.”

The financial implications of the proposal is Rs. 50 lakh per Chair per year and the total expenditure for establishing ten Chairs will be approximately Rs. Rs. 5 crore per annum. The Chairs are to be established for a period of 5 years initially as per the guidelines, says the WCD Ministry’s press release.