NEW DELHI: Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit
announced on January 16
that Delhi will soon have a technical university
exclusively for women.
She said that the existing technical college -- Indira
Gandhi Institute of Technology, currently a part of Guru
Gobind Singh Indraprastha University (GGSIP) -- would
soon be upgraded into a full-fledged university.
The announcement was made after the Delhi Cabinet
formally approved the draft of Indira Gandhi Delhi
Technical University Bill, 2012, which will now be
placed in the Assembly's budget session.
“The Indira Gandhi Institute has attained a level of
maturity and has made rich contribution to the growth of
quality technical education and research among women
during last 12 years. Since 85% seats in the institute
are reserved for Delhi girls, it has also given them
better placement and career opportunities.
We now want to upgrade it to meet the growing needs of
the industry for relevant technology and product
innovation,“ Dikshit told reporters.
Dikshit said Delhi would be the first state to have an
exclusive technical university for women. “It will also
facilitate additional enrollment of women in
technological courses as parents are often reluctant to
send their daughters outside Delhi for higher education.
We expect that student strength will
increase to almost two times the current strength in the
next few years,“ Dikshit said.
A senior technical education official said the upgrade
of the institute would provide an opportunity for
accelerated growth of women in technical education,
technology incubation and product innovation vital for
women empowerment.