Women Empowerment and Gender Equality are the most important requirements for the upliftment and progress of our nation. In the effort to make Ramanujan College a strong kernel of gender sensitization, the Women Development Cell (WDC) was constituted in November 2016 under the able convenor-ship of Dr. Madhu Batta. The Cell has both the faculty and students of the College as its members and works with an aim to create a gender sensitized community within campus as well as in the society. It has been organising varied academic, technical, medical, cultural and social events for the upliftment of women and spread the real importance of gender equality in the society through College students.

Objectives:

• Living in a patriarchal society with deep rooted and socio-cultural value of male superiority, the objective of the Cell is to help build an egalitarian society.
• Helping female students live a balanced life where they neither lurk into depression nor take the abode of aggression.
• To stress upon the development of women in every sphere.
• To organize events and activities for women empowerment.
• To create an environment that will help women realize their full potential and give their best.

Vision:

• Molding and enlightening the young minds and pave their way to grow into balanced and better human beings.

Mission:

• To encourage female students to be self-reliant and economically independent.
• To instill positive self-esteem and confidence in the female students so that they can take the right decision in and for-their lives.
• Spreading awareness among the students about the social, legal and constitutional rights of women in order to prevent the exploitation based on gender.
• Making females cognizant about different kinds of violence: sexual, physical and mental and to further equip them with the knowledge and strength to fight against them.
• Creating awareness about the need of gender equality.
• Providing equal career opportunities to all the genders.
• Eliminating deep rooted beliefs of gender bias and discrimination.

Activities from January 2016 to June 2017

1. December 21 to December 27, 2016: A programme on “Digital India” was organised in association with NSS, Ramanujan College and Social Action Foundation. Along with the programme, a workshop named “Mera Mobile Mera Batua” was also conducted for the rural and weaker sections of the society.
2. January 24, 2017: Organised a “Just a Minute” Competition on various women oriented themes and topics where students would pick a chit and speak on the topic given in the paper. The competition witnessed large participation from students from various fields. The top three winners were given the prizes.
3.  January 24, 2017: A talk on “Legal Empowerment of Women in India’s Changing Scenario” by advocate and management scholar Mrs. Shweta Pathak was arranged. Advocate Pathak introduced the students to various Laws and Acts of Indian Constitution which are framed to empower women and give them the space to live their life with dignity and rights.
4. February, 2017: Various inter-class debate competitions on different social, political, economic women issues were organised with a motive to spread awareness about gender discrimination and importance of gender equality among students. The competition became a platform where the students expressed innovative and progressive ways to eradicate gender discrimination from the different stratas of our society.
5.  February, 2017: Sahaja Yoga classes for the Non-Collegiate girl students were conducted in order to help the students cope with stress and to manage stress through meditation.
6. March 6, 2017: A talk on “Women Health & Hygiene” by Dr. Amita Jain, Sr. Consultant-Urogynecology, Fortis Escorts Kidney & Urology Institute in association with Nishchal Seva Foundation was organised.
7. March 30, 2017: A one-day Outreach Programme was organised. The students and teachers of the Cell visited Chetna Welfare Society, Faridabad, a centre for underprivileged and differently-abled children and conducted various activities and competitions like flower making, diya making, painting, mehendi, storytelling and candle making with the children of the society.
8. March, 2017: “Pledge Taking” programme was arranged by the volunteers to ensure that each and every college teacher and student take an oath to treat all the genders equally.
9. April 10, 2017: The Women Development Cell in association with the English Literary Society of Ramanujan College and Social Action Foundation (SAF) organised its annual festival “Sashakt”. The event celebrated women empowerment through different programs.

Activities  from July 2017 to June 2018

1. October 25, 2017: A talk on “Cancer Prevention: Strategies for the younger generation” by Dr. Kanika Batra Modi, Attending Consultant, Surgical Oncology, Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute and Research Centre, Niti Bagh was organised. The talk witnessed the large participation of students, teachers as well as non-teaching staff.
2. November 2, 2017: A workshop on “Stress and Yogic Exercises” by Dr. Amrit Raj was conducted. The workshop focused to develop and nurture the mind and soul.
3. December, 2017: A Sahaja Yoga Programme was organised for the girls of Non-Collegiate Women’s Education Board, University of Delhi. The session experienced the large participation of students.
4.  January 25, 2018: Felicitation cum Investiture ceremony of Gender Champions. The Cell welcomed and formally introduced the new Gender Champions who were selected after the interview. It was followed by a lecture that was delivered by Dr. Nirmalya Samanta. The lecture focused on gender sensitization and gender issues in the contemporary world.
5. February 2, 2018: A Sahaja Yoga Programme in collaboration with NSS. Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi’s wonderful concept focusing on the unity of soul and body was explained by Shri Sanjay Talwar to the students.
6. February 19, 2018: An expressive arts workshop called A Creative Workshop for empowering girls was organised. The resource person was Ms. Manju Jain who is trained in counselling, coaching and expressive arts facilitation. The girls felt energetic and empowered after the workshop.
7. March 27, 2018: Annual fest SASHAKT – An event to celebrate gender equality through performing Arts was organised in collaboration with Department of English, University of Delhi. The event witnessed the presence of eminent speakers, namely, Dr. Rajeev Kumar, General secretary of SAF, Ms. Charu Prabhakar, Emerging Filmmaker. The event also organised competitions like Dance Competition, Rangoli, Poetry and Poster Making.

Activities  from July 2018 to June 2019

1. August 21, 2018: A talk on ‘Women safety and law’ was organized in which Advocate Shweta Pathak talked about various laws in the country for women and explained how to seek redressal in courts.
2. From August  23, 2018: Weekly “Sahaja Yoga Session” to release stress are organized in college premises on every Thursday for students and faculties of the college.
3.  September 19, 2018: To develop writing skills among the students a workshop on “Creative Writing” was organized.
4. October, 2018: Two Collection and Distribution Drive were organized in collaboration with VIRANGANA, Women Development Cell of Dyal Singh College and Rising NGO in October in which the items collected were distributed in slum areas of Govind Puri..
5. October 23- November 3, 2018 : An “Issue Based Training Workshop” was organized in collaboration with the Internal Complaint Committee of Ramanujan College and with the Breakthrough NGO which works globally for the cause of women.
6. January 21- February 1, 2019 : Self  Defense Training Camp. A ten day Self Defense Training camp with the theme “Danger knows no bound” was organized  with trainers coming from Delhi Police to empower our girl students. A total of 75 female students (with participation from NCWEB as well) attended the session with full dedication and enthusiasm.
7. February 20, 2019- March 7, 2019: Film Making Workshop” from in collaboration with Breakthrough NGO was conducted where Ms. Shubhika introduced the students to the basics of film making and two films were made on the theme of “stalking” and another on the theme of “life girl”.
8. February 21, 2019: JoshTalks in Association with ITC Vivel on the topic “Know your Rights” was organised to enlighten students on the rights of women and the importance of men in understanding them.
9. March 8, 2019 : PEHAL-Annual Lecture Series – On the occasion of International Women’s Day, an annual lecture series was announced from this year. Dr. Debjani Sengupta,  Associate professor, IP College, University of Delhi gave the inaugural lecture in which she talked about partition and portrayal of women in Kolkata in post-independence era. Dr. Surabhika Maheshwari, Asssistant Professor, IP College, University of Delhi spoke on fame, success and gender in the current times. Commander Manish Tyagi, ex naval officer and corporate trainer discussed about jokes targeted towards women.
10. March 13, 2019 : SASHAKT Annual fest– The theme of this year’s fest was “Rangheen” which projects that your colorless encounters deserve an uncensored platform. Various inter college competitions were organized namely, Poetry competition, JAM (Just a Minute), Story Completion, Screen! Scroll! Situation!, Rangoli Competition  and face painting. A platform was provided to students to learn entrepreneurship and marketing skills by putting up various food and game stalls. Various NGOs also took this opportunity of interacting with students.
11. MOU with Mohar Organics: A Memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed with Mohar organics under which four student members, consisting of one campus ambassador and three volunteers, worked as interns with Mohar Organics, a startup that manufactures organic sanitary napkins and educates girl students in various colleges and schools about the importance of using sanitary napkins.
12. August 2019:  A Memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed with NGO Kind Beings which works on issues like Education, Women empowerment, cleanliness etc.
13. August, 2019:  In the last week of August, a Stationary Collection Drive with the objective to utilize excessive, used or unused stationary with urban students that could be channelized to rural children or slums was organized in collaboration with NGO – Kind Beings.
14. September 2019: The month of September 2019 was celebrated as Color Month, in which each week was associated with a different colour to target the issues prevailing in our society. This event took place in collaboration with GRF, Gracia Raina Foundation, run by Priyanka Raina and Suresh Raina.
15. October 14, 2019: A T3 Anemia (Test, Treat, Talk) and D2 (Defeat Diarrhoea) seminars under Poshan Abhiyan was organized in collaboration with CDMO, South East District, Delhi Health Department.

Activities organised in the academic year 2019-20

1. January 29, 2020: The movie Periods: End of Sentence was screened, to create more awareness about menstruation and taboos related to menstrual health.
2. February 26-27, 2020: A Sanitary pads donation drive in the college premises was organised in collaboration with the NGO – Kind Beings, with the objective of supporting women hygiene, particularly in the slums.
3. March 4, 2020: A workshop on women’s health, with a special emphasis on Cervical Cancer, was organised in collaboration with NSS and NCC. The workshop was conducted by ‘Love Matters India’ partnering with Dr. Safe Hands.
4. February 25-29, 2020:A self-defence camp was organised in the College premises, in collaboration with Delhi Police,  with the objective to promote women safety.  Staff of Delhi Police provided training to the female students of the College.
5. February 23, 2020: The WDC was represented at ‘Period Feast’- A Lunch event, organised by Sachhi Saheli (NGO) to uphold women’s menstrual dignity at Central Park in Pocket A, Mayur Vihar, Phase 2. The Period Feast or Mahwari Mahabhoj is a statement against dogmatic traditions related to menstruation.
6. May 13, 2020: An online painting competition on the pertinent and sensitive topic of Perspective: Frontline Workers in Covid-19 was organised by the Gender Champions.

Activities organised in the academic year 2020-21

September 10, 2020: A webinar was hosted on Stress Management through Sahaja Yoga Meditation from 4:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Mr. Nitin Jindal and his team from Sahaja yoga meditation centre shared expertise of meditation techniques for stress management. The webinar was conceptualized keeping in mind Covid Pandemic and stress associated with it. The webinar aimed at spreading awareness about how Sahaja yoga is helpful in addressing the problem of stress. The webinar was conducted through Zoom platform. Participants included teachers and members from different colleges of University of Delhi.

Future Plans:

• To help battling examination stress, the Cell is planning to provide medical facilities like counselling sessions and psychologist visits in the college.
• The Cell is working hard for the creche facility, which would be provided to teachers where they can leave their kids in the day care facility without having to worry about them.
• A meditation Centre will be established to deal with the everyday stress and anxieties of the female students.
• For a healthy and fit life, yoga camps and aerobics classes will also be organized by the Cell.
• To spread the importance and ways for women empowerment and gender equality various talks, workshops and events will be organized. These programmes will also provide a platform to female students to understand their unexplored skills and talents.
• To start a short term course on gender and law with the objective of increasing awareness about myths and taboos.

WEB Link

Instagram Link: https://instagram.com/wdc.ramanujan?igshid=1iv8jdmdyljng

Facebook Link: https://www.facebook.com/Women-Development-Cell-Ramanujan-CollegeDU-715973978575437/