To mark the occasion of the lnternational Women’s Day, 2020, Union Minister for Human Resource Development Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’  felicitated the Vice Chancellors of Women Universities and Women Principals of Delhi Colleges in New Delhi today. Senior officials of the Ministry and UGC were also present on the occasion.

Union Minister also launched the SAKSHAM portal, developed by UGC that aims towards empowerment of women in campuses through creating awareness on the existing opportunities and initiatives, support and redressal mechanism. The web resources (Government and United Nations policy documents) are made available to women students and employees of Higher Education Institutions through the portal. The url address of SAKSHAM portal is saksham.ugc.ac.in

Speaking on the occasion , Shri Pokhriyal said that to reaffirm the commitment to ensure the rights and entitlements of women, we believe that a healthy academic environment is a necessary prerequisite to quality education for women students and employees in Higher Educational Institutions.  He added that Government has undertaken several initiatives through the provision of various fellowships, scholarships, support to institutions for capacity expansion and empowerment of women. The Union Minister also said that the New Education Policy is in final stage and we have special provisions such as higher funding, scholarship etc. for girls’ students in it.

While informing about the SAKSHAM portal the Minister said that it brings together information on all women-oriented initiatives and  provides a platform for registering complaints related to violence and harassment through a National helpline number ( 1800111656) against women in HEIs. He further informed that an email address (gssec.ugc@nic.in) and an ‘Upload your complaint’ option under Grievance redressal is also available on the portal.