CENTRE FOR PROMOTION OF INCLUSIVITY
SHIVAJI COLLEGE (UNIVERSITY OF DELHI)
1st EDITION
Weekly News Round Up
15 October - 21 October
INITIATIVES TO PROMOTE GENDER DIVERSITY
SOURCE: BUSINESS STANDARD
Prioritisation of gender diversity and concerted efforts to promote the inclusion of women in every sector is finally paying off. The giant Indian manufacturing corporation 'Mahindra and Mahindra' has also vowed to designate more women in leadership roles. Inclusion of women and assigning them major roles will also help in better representation. It is evident that gender diversity is more recognised in large firms as compared to the smaller ones. However, statistics say that representation of women in corporate India has increased from 21% five years ago to 30% now.
INDIA SPEAKS ON INCLUSIVE EDUCATION POLICIES AT UNHRC
SOURCE: ANI
During the 47th Session of UN Human Rights Council, TS Tirumurti, the Permanent Representative of India to the UN, stated that an inclusive education would promote the values of equality, social justice and democracy. He reiterated the constitutional policies of India that guaranteed inclusive education: cultural and educational rights for linguistic or religious minorities to establish educational institutions of their choice, free and compulsory education to all children between 6 and 14 years of age and the new National Education Policy which aim for holistic development of learners with no rigid separations between disciplines.
'HERS' PROJECT AIMS TO PROMOTE INCLIUSIVITY IN MAHARASHTRA
SOURCE: THELOGICALINDIAN.COM
The gender gap issues in Maharashtra have been heightened by the Covid-19 pandemic, as a large number of women have lost their livelihoods due to being unemployed. To tackle this problem 'HERS' project, backed by Vinati Organics Ltd in partnership with Samhita and Collective Good Foundation, has been launched. The project would introduce a series of CSR initiatives, to address the central issues faced by women. This would include, in-school training programmes, school sanitation and behaviour change campaigns, out-of-school employbility programmes, scholarship programmes and initiatives to restore livelihoods of informal workers and micro-entrepreneurs.
SEPARATE TOILETS FOR TRANSGENDERS IN DMRC
SOURCE: FILE PHOTO OF DELHI METRO I THE PRINT
The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), has taken another step toward inclusivity, by making provisions of allowing the transgender community access to its 347 seperate dedicated toilets, which hitherto meant for Divyang jans only. Bilingual signs in English and Hindi, along with symbols for ' persons with disabilities' and ' Transgenders' have been installed adjacent to these toilets. Additionally, any transgender person who wishes to use gender based toilets as pre self identified gender can continue to do so. DMRC said, ' The move is meant to provide safe space to transgenders and prevent discrimination against them'. DMRC is also contemplating ways to provide seperate public toilets facilities at its upcoming stations in phase-IV.
INCLUSIVE CLASSROOM ON THE RISE
The D.A.V, Matriculation Higher Secondary School's Gill Nagar branch began a new chapter in March 2021, to promote inclusive education. Toffered admissions to students with special needs between the ages of 3.5 and 10. The school is putting required facilities and bringing on board trained professionals, for the benefit of these students. Parents of such children while appreciating these changes feel that there still is a long way to go for true inclusion to happen. All parents must be orientated first and instructors must be trained to proactively convey the child's development. Three main things should be there in an inclusive school which is an occupational therapist, a special education curriculum and a speech therapist. There are certain challenges for the school as well, they need to make an environment that is emphathatic to the needs of the child. These children equally deserves opportunity to build social and life skills.
Weekly News Round Up
22 October - 28 October
INCLUSIVITY IN SPORTS
SOURCE: HTTPS://UNSPLASH.COM
The field of sports entertainment is one of those which are coming forward to promote gender neutrality and inclusivity. The recent decision by the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) to use to gender neutral term 'batter' and 'batters' instead of batsman and batsmen has been welcomed by popular cricketers like Anjum Chopra.
The term batter was being used by the commentators for a while now but after getting official recognition it is surely going to have an impact on the progression towards gender neutrality.
WOMEN TO SIT IN NDA ENTRANCE 2021
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SOURCE: HTTPS://UNSPLASH.COM
The Supreme Court directed the Centre to allow women candidates for Nov. 2021 NDA entrance exam saying, "Gender equality issue cannot be postponed ". The Defense ministry, a day before informed the supreme court that, 'the necessary mechanism would be in place for induction of women Candidates by May 2022', but the court has ordered UPSC to issue a corrected notification for the November exam, saying; ' [Women] cannot defer for one year' and ' the aspirations of women have risen'. The court was hearing a petition on this issue filed by advocate Kush Kalra.
11,111 KMS BIKE RIDE TO UPLIFT WOMEN'S MOBILITY
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SOURCE: HTTPS://UNSPLASH.COM
Jai Bharati, the founder of MOWO Foundation (Moving Women Social Initiatives Foundation), is set out on a bike ride across 20 cities since 11 October, as part of the Moving Boundaries Campaign. The aim behind this, is to encourage women across the country to learn to drive, to make them self-reliant, and to increase their employbility. The MOWO Foundation, has been working towards this goal since 2019, and to-date it has trained 1,500 women in riding bikes and autos, some of whom have used this skill to earn their livelihood.
FOR BETTER FUTURE: LGBTQIA+ AND SOCIETY
SOURCE: HTTPS://UNSPLASH.COM
The National Medical Commission has issued an advisory emphasising the importance of avoiding derogatory references to the LGBTQIA+ community in textbooks. When teaching students about gender, it advised educational institutions to avoid making such remarks. Justice Vankatesh asked the authorities to make necessary curricular revisions. The judge also ordered that police officers refrain from harassing sexual minorities. The court has been a strong ally for queer and gender nonconforming persons, but they will need more help from other authorities if their rights are to be maintained. Change in attitude of the the society will only be beneficial at the end.
INCREASING INCLUSIVITY IN INDIAN CORPORATE SECTION
The 2021 Most Inclusive Companies Index included a number of Indian companies. As per latest report, there is an increased representation of women in the 100 Best Companies for India. Representation of women in managerial positions rose from 19% in 2016 to 25.4%. The maternity retention rate increased from 91% in 2020 to 96% this year. The representation of women in the leadership roles in IT sector increased from 14% in 2020 to 18% in 2021. Several companies have made efforts to improve Diversity, Inclusion and Equity (DEI) in their companies, many of them saw an increase in representation of women and other under-represented groups in top executive and leadership positions.
Weekly News Round Up
19 November - 26 November
FASHION DESIGNING INDUSTRY MARCHES TOWARDS INCLUSIVITY
The event of the annual CFDA Awards took place in November 2021 and it was memorable for a reason. This year people from the BIPOC community (Black, Indigenous, and People Of Colour) were included in a considerable number and were bestowed the prestigious accolades.
The fashion industry was known for presenting the awards to the same names repeatedly. The course correction this year is certainly being welcomed by people all across the globe.
SOURCE: WWW.PIINTEREST.COM
PETITION STARTED BY PARENTS TO REINSTATE NCERT"S MANUAL ON LGBTQ+ INCLUSIONS IN SCHOOLS
Nilakshi Rao started a petition at change.org urging the NCERT to reinstate the manual on transgender and non-binary children. Earlier this month, this training manual was released by NCERT to sensitise everyone about non-binary students in schools. The manual attempted to educate schools about the LGBTQ+ community and various gender orientations. The booklet taught concepts like cisgender, agender and gender-fluid, among others.It also included teacher friendly practices and techniques for making schools more welcoming to LGBTQ+ students. However, the manual was taken down after a complaint by the NCPCR and social media backlash from some right- wing groups.
SOURCE: NCERT
EVERY CHILD DESERVES A SCHOOL'S PROJECT WORKS TOWARDS PROMOTING INCLUSIVITY IN EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS
SOURCE: HTTPS://WWW.DEVEX.COM
The project initiated by Bolashak Corporate Fund, launched in July 2015, aims to promote the adoption of inclusive approaches in educational institutions. The fund has been able to open 15 inclusion support rooms in different regions, and has equipped 43 inclusion support rooms in 22 cities with 284 teaching assistants. The teaching assistants and support rooms support the learning and education of children, who face autism, speech disorders and other mental challenges. Due to the efforts of the people part of this project, 90% of the students with speech disorders, with access to these support rooms have learned to talk, and 50 children have won school, city and regional competitions. Moreover, around 2,000 parents and specialists have received training in applied behavioral analysis and inclusive education.
ECOLOPS SIGNS THE UNITED NATION'S WOMEN EMPOWERMENT PRINCIPLES [WEPS]
SOURCE: HTTPS;//WWW.CATALYST.ORG
Ecoslops, the France-based company company involved in the circular economy, announced on Nov 15, 2021 that it is now a signatory to the United Nations Women Empowerment Principles (WEPs). The WEPs are a set of guidelines to promote gender equality and women's professional development in the corporate world. The signing of these principles signifies the management's official commitment in working towards improving gender equality as highlighted in the company's 2021-2023 plan.
SC ISSUE CONTEMPT WARNING: PERMANENT COMMISSIONS TO WOMEN OFFICERS
SOURCE: HTTPS;//WWW.SHETHEPEOPLE.TV
The army has agreed to grant permanent commission to those women Short Service Commission (SSC) officers who fulfill the criteria of Para 120 (of the judgment from March 25), but were rejected by the past selection process. The move came after the two judge bench headed by Justice D Y Chanderchaud, warned that the court would initiate contempt proceedings against the army if they don't comply with the verdict announced on March 25 this year; which came after some women officers detected flaws in the selection process; that was initiated after a landmark ruling of the court in February 2020, granting women officers a permanent commission including command postings.
STEPS TAKEN BY KARNATAKA STATE GOVERNMENT TO MAKE EDUCATION MORE INCLUSIVE
SOURCE: HTTPS;//NEWS.CAREERS360.COM
With the advent of digitalization during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Higher Education Minister of Karnataka, C N Ashwathnarayan, said that steps to make quality education more accessible to economically and socially disadvantaged students, were being taken by the government. While beginning to implement the new National Education Policy (NEP-2020), the government has taken measures
such as: providing content to students through the newly developed Learning Management System, internet enabled smart classes and providing a device to each student in polytechnic, engineering and degree institutions, to make the education system more inclusive and efficient.