Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India Prof Ajay Kumar Sood today launched the “Science for Women-A Technology & Innovation (SWATI)” Portal, aimed at creating a single online portal representing Indian Women and Girls in STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics & Medicine)

 Launching the Portal on the occasion of International Day of Women and Girls in Science at Indian National Science Academy (INSA), New Delhi, Prof Sood said, the database of SWATI Portal will serve in policy making to address the challenges of Gender-gap.

 The Portal is a complete interactive database; and the first-of-its-kind in India which is developed, hosted, and maintained by the National Institute of Plant Genome Research (NIPGR), New Delhi under the leadership of Dr. Subhra Chakraborty, Director, NIPGR, New Delhi; Link to join SWATI: https://bit.ly/JoinSWATI.

 Dr Chakraborty in her address highlighted this aspect and said that this is probably the world’s first Interactive Portal of its kind. She also quoted figures from the 2021 UN Report to highlight the underrepresentation of women across all sectors.

 Dr. Chakraborty reiterated that this is a dynamically growing portal and the endeavour is to have data of all women scientists in the country included.

 Prof. Quarraisha Abdool Karim, President TWAS, in her keynote address, said that even in the 21st Century, we still have a way to go to address Gender Parity in all sectors of life. She said education is a great equalizer and access to it must be made available to women and girls across all streams.

The event was organized to focus on the importance of “Science for Women & Women in Science” as well as emerging opportunities and inclusiveness of women in S&T endeavours. This will be beneficial for the dissemination of knowledge, new advances in fundamental science, and the role/importance of innovation and entrepreneurship development in strengthening the backbone of Atmanirbhar Bharat. This would also provide an opportunity to discuss and evolve a roadmap for ‘Women in Science’ & ‘Science for Women’.

The other objectives of the SWATI Portal include scaling up the effort exponentially to include every Indian woman in science, across all career stages and subjects, spanning both Academia and the Industry enabling reliable and statistically significant long term research on the issues of equality, diversity, and inclusivity in India; Inclusion of every Indian WiS, career stages, subjects, spanning both Academia and the Industry; Enabling reliable and statistically significant long term research on the issues of equality, diversity, and inclusivity in India, developing an active search engine and searchable database (Name, Affiliation, Area of Interest).

The various Sections in the portal include Icons – Awardees (Padma / Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar / Stree Shakti Science Samman) & Directors, Secretaries Academy Presidents; Faculty- Indian Universities, Autonomous organizations including S&T Ministry/ CSIR/ DBT/ DST/ CSIR/ MHRD/ UGC/ GATI/ KIRAN; Research fellows- Postdocs, JRFs, SRFs, Technical Staff; Students-PhD Scholars, Research Interns, Graduates, Postgraduates, Undergraduates; WiS Entrepreneurs, Startups, Business & Science Administrators; STEMM background professionals in alternate careers(e.g. Science, Journalism etc). So far, 3000 ‘WiS Data Cards’ have been incorporated.

The event was graced by distinguished scientists of national/ international repute viz. Prof. CNR Rao, Linus Pauling Research Professor & Hon. President, JNCASR, Bangalore, Prof. P N Tandon, Formerly, Professor & Neurosurgeon, Dept. of Neurosurgery, AIIMS, Former President, NASI; Presidents of the three Science Academies viz. Prof. Balram Bhargava (President, NASI), Prof. Waghmare (President, IASc), Prof. Ashutosh Sharma (President, INSA), Dr. Manju Sharma, Former Secretary to the Govt. of India, DBT, Prof. Chandrima Shaha, Former President, INSA including other distinguished women scientists viz. Dr. Renu Swarup, Former Secretary to the Govt. of India, DBT; Prof. Rohini Godbole, Vice President, IASc, IISc, Bangalore and Prof, Shobhona Sharma, Former Senior Professor, TIFR Mumbai and Chair, INSA ‘Women in Science’ Panel; Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, Former DG, ICMR & Chief Scientist, WHO; Prof. Paramjit Khurana, Delhi Unversity, South Campus.

Several eminent speakers/ scientists/entrepreneurs/ start-ups from all across the country have been invited to share their expertise on the subjects of relevance; several young women scientists, researchers, P.G. students, faculty members, technocrats, and start-ups from various institutions, universities, PG Colleges as well as the industries all across the country are likely to participate in the event.

 With this endeavour of the IAP, a platform would be created to encourage and bring together, all the young women scientists, faculty members, researchers, and also the young start-ups from India and abroad under one umbrella for pursuing the cause of Science.

 Women constitute, 50% of human resources, which is vital for the progress of society. To empower women is to increase their role in the decision-making that affects their lives both within and outside the household.

 It is important to educate more women, especially in the field of science& technology, because science education not only enhances awareness levels but also builds a mindset with an ability to judge between right and wrong. It provides a scientific approach to cope with the problems being faced by the women, ensuring their socio-economic development. Women scientists can provide opportunities by making them aware of several scientific & societal issues, thus bridging the gender gap and removing the barriers of negativity. Therefore, realizing the role of women scientists, the Inter-Academy Panel (IAP) of the three Science Academies viz. IASc, NASI, and INSA with several distinguished women scientists from various institutions of repute and representatives from Govt. Departments/Agencies (DST, DBT, DAE, CSIR, ICMR & ISRO), have been working towards promoting gender sensitization, mentorship, gender parity, creating skilled human resources; helping towards the development of rural women and other related areas with the motive to ensure the inclusion of more Women in S&T related issues in all pragmatic ways and strengthen the application of S&T for the welfare of women.

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