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NEW DELHI: The University Grants Commission (UGC) is set to launch 10 women-centric academic chairs in various universities, including in the name of freedom fighter and poet Mahadevi Verma,

singer M.S. Subbulakshmi and Maratha queen Devi Ahilyabai Holkar among others.  The chairs will be established in association with the Ministry of Women and Child Development, which will

provide the financial support.  “The women-centric chairs are being funded completely by the WCD ministry. We are working on new guidelines for establishing chairs and will work towards

promoting the existing chairs,” UGC secretary Rajnish Jain told ThePrint.    Show Full Article Two days ago, the commission sent out a letter to all institutions recognised by it, asking

them to send a proposal expressing their interest in establishing the chairs.  Apart from Holkar, Verma and Subbulakshmi, the new chairs are in the names of the ancient Indian mathematician

Lilavati, Kashmiri poet Lalleshwari, also known as Lal Ded, wildlife conservationist Amrita Devi, reformist Hansa Mehta, biochemist Kamala Sohonie, Naga freedom fighter Rani Gaidinliu and

India’s first female physician Anandibai Gopalrao Joshi.  A UGC chair under an eminent personality’s name gives the university or institution the option to teach about the life and works of

that personality.  The UGC provides 100 per cent funding for the chairs for up to five years and the educational institutions are expected to engage in research and, in turn, contribute to

the knowledge of the personality. They are also expected to publish articles, research papers and books on the subject. A chair is usually headed by an eminent academic, with an outstanding

track record.  ------------------------- _ALSO READ: __Modi govt likely to slash school education budget by Rs 3,000 crore citing funds crunch_  ------------------------- IDEA OF CHAIRS NOT

WELL RECEIVED If the number of existing UGC chairs in universities is anything to go by, it seems that the idea is not very well-received. According to data with the UGC, of the 30 chairs

that the commission offers, less than 10 have been established across universities. Once the new chairs are established, the total number of chairs will go up to 40.   As ThePrint had

earlier reported, the few chairs that have been set up are named after prominent political leaders. Most universities, both state and central, have only instituted chairs created by the UGC

under the name of Rajiv Gandhi, Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad, Babu Jagjivan Ram, Dayanand Saraswati and Deen Dayal Upadhyaya, mostly in keeping with the ideology of the political dispensation at

the Centre.  Chairs in the name of eminent scientists and economists such as Amartya Sen lie vacant; there are no takers even for a chair in the name of Mahatma Gandhi. Professor Deepak

Pental, former Delhi University vice-chancellor, had earlier told ThePrint that the idea of chairs is half-hearted since it is not possible to do substantial research in a period of five

years.   ------------------------- _ALSO READ: __21% fewer Indian students went abroad last year as US figures saw biggest drop_  -------------------------