Concern over UGC move to cut funding for Women’s Studies Centre
TIRUCHI, MARCH 21, 2019 00:00 IST
The Women’s Studies department in Bharathidasan University and centres in other universities are keeping their fingers crossed as the latest guidelines of University Grants Commission(UGC) has envisaged a major cut in funding.
In a memorandum submitted to UGC, president of Indian Association of Women’s Studies (IAWS) Meera Velayudhan and general secretary Anagha Tambe said the new guidelines issued earlier this month ran counter to the public notice issued by Secretary, UGC, on August 24, 2017, saying there was no proposal to cut funding/support to WSCs funded by UGC.
As per the new guidelines, allocation for university centres had been fixed at Rs. 35 lakh per annum. Such an amount would mean a drastic cut in annual fund allocation by Rs. 12.5 lakh for Phase II Centres, by Rs. 29 lakhs for Phase III Centres, and by Rs. 40 lakhs for Advanced Centres for Women’s Studies in universities.
The budget breakup for the university centres in the new guidelines further specified that only 45% of Rs. 35 lakh allocated for WSCs could be used for staff salaries. From the budget breakup, it would appear that two project officers, four non-teaching staff, and a professor director were all to be paid out of a monthly budget of Rs. 1.3 lakh.
“It is quite inexplicable that after stipulating the appointment of a full-time professor director with no additional charge, the budget provides for only a monthly allowance of Rs. 5,000 for the director, which is apparently meant for additional charge,” the memorandum said.
There was a natural and urgent concern that the major cut in allocation would also mean that all appointments in university WSCs that had been made during the past 10 years according to previous UGC guidelines would now face summary dismissal and without any explanation.
The new guidelines would lead to complete disruption of teaching and research functions across a very large number of Women’s Studies Centres in universities, according to N. Manimekalai, Joint Director of IAWS, and Head, Department of Women's Studies, Bharathidasan University.
Important role
WSCs have played an important role in building the discipline of Women’s Studies in India. They have also had more responsibilities than other disciplines in the university system since they are routinely called upon to conduct gender sensitisation activities beyond the confines of their centres, to engage with several disciplines and departments in order to mainstream gender in other disciplines, to serve on sexual harassment committees, and to actively engage in advising and implementing the host of legal and policy measures related to gender that have proliferated in recent times.
If the WSCs could play an important role in the university system and its outreach into society at large, it was because of the support of UGC.
While welcoming the enhanced support to college centres, IAWS urged UGC to reconsider the lack of emphasis on teaching and research in the recently announced guidelines, and to ensure that the budgetary provisions were revised in the interest of the women’s studies community, the memorandum said.
TIRUCHI, MARCH 21, 2019 00:00 IST
The Women’s Studies department in Bharathidasan University and centres in other universities are keeping their fingers crossed as the latest guidelines of University Grants Commission(UGC) has envisaged a major cut in funding.
In a memorandum submitted to UGC, president of Indian Association of Women’s Studies (IAWS) Meera Velayudhan and general secretary Anagha Tambe said the new guidelines issued earlier this month ran counter to the public notice issued by Secretary, UGC, on August 24, 2017, saying there was no proposal to cut funding/support to WSCs funded by UGC.
As per the new guidelines, allocation for university centres had been fixed at Rs. 35 lakh per annum. Such an amount would mean a drastic cut in annual fund allocation by Rs. 12.5 lakh for Phase II Centres, by Rs. 29 lakhs for Phase III Centres, and by Rs. 40 lakhs for Advanced Centres for Women’s Studies in universities.
The budget breakup for the university centres in the new guidelines further specified that only 45% of Rs. 35 lakh allocated for WSCs could be used for staff salaries. From the budget breakup, it would appear that two project officers, four non-teaching staff, and a professor director were all to be paid out of a monthly budget of Rs. 1.3 lakh.
“It is quite inexplicable that after stipulating the appointment of a full-time professor director with no additional charge, the budget provides for only a monthly allowance of Rs. 5,000 for the director, which is apparently meant for additional charge,” the memorandum said.
There was a natural and urgent concern that the major cut in allocation would also mean that all appointments in university WSCs that had been made during the past 10 years according to previous UGC guidelines would now face summary dismissal and without any explanation.
The new guidelines would lead to complete disruption of teaching and research functions across a very large number of Women’s Studies Centres in universities, according to N. Manimekalai, Joint Director of IAWS, and Head, Department of Women's Studies, Bharathidasan University.
Important role
WSCs have played an important role in building the discipline of Women’s Studies in India. They have also had more responsibilities than other disciplines in the university system since they are routinely called upon to conduct gender sensitisation activities beyond the confines of their centres, to engage with several disciplines and departments in order to mainstream gender in other disciplines, to serve on sexual harassment committees, and to actively engage in advising and implementing the host of legal and policy measures related to gender that have proliferated in recent times.
If the WSCs could play an important role in the university system and its outreach into society at large, it was because of the support of UGC.
While welcoming the enhanced support to college centres, IAWS urged UGC to reconsider the lack of emphasis on teaching and research in the recently announced guidelines, and to ensure that the budgetary provisions were revised in the interest of the women’s studies community, the memorandum said.
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