Govt launches online portal on women in science and technology

A single online portal on Indian women in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics & Medicine (STEMM) was launched on Sunday to help in policy-making to address the challenges of gender gap in sciences.

The 'Science for Women-A Technology & Innovation (SWATI)' portal is an interactive database and the first-of-its-kind portal in India, developed, hosted and maintained by the National Institute of Plant Genome Research (NIPGR), an official statement said.

This is a dynamically growing portal, and the endeavour is to have data of all women scientists of the country available at the click of a button, said NIPGR Director Subhra Chakraborty said.

The portal was launched by Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government, Prof Ajay Kumar Sood, at the Indian National Science Academy.

"Even in the 21st century, we still have a way to go to address gender parity in all sectors of life. Education is a great equaliser and access to it must be made available to women and girls across all streams," said Prof. Quarraisha Abdool Karim, President of the The World Academy of Sciences.

The event was organised to focus on the importance of science for women and women in science as well as the emerging opportunities and inclusiveness of women in science and technology endeavours.

The 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.