At Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, we firmly believe that education is the key to empowerment, and every aspiring mind should have equal access to opportunities. Recognizing the significance of fostering an inclusive educational environment, we have diligently established Women Access Schemes tailored for school students aspiring to pursue higher studies at our institution. These schemes, comprising scholarships, mentoring programs, and various other initiatives, are not just initiatives; they are pathways to transformation, breaking down barriers and enabling young women to reach their fullest potential.
1.1.1 Rekha Eipe Memorial Scholarship
In 2022, we inaugurated the Rekha Eipe Memorial Scholarship for Women’s Empowerment and Education. This scholarship annually supports at least one female student enrolled in the Master in Social Work (MSW) Program at Amritapuri, with demonstrated financial need, enabling them to pursue full-time enrollment in the MSW program. It covers all the tuition fees for the student’s two-year residential degree. It recognizes and rewards exceptional civic engagement, academic accomplishments, and compassionate character in young women committed to community improvement and active participation in social service.
On April 19th, 2024, the third Rekha Eipe Memorial Scholarship Award for Women’s Empowerment and Education was given to scholarship recipient Sruthymol J, Master of Social Work student. The event took place at Shraddha Hall in the presence of several dignitaries and guests. The award ceremony, held at Shraddha Hall, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, witnessed the gracious presence of esteemed dignitaries including Shri Zak Eipe, Founding member of the Board of the Rekha Eipe Memorial Fund for Education, Advocate Prabhakaran Ramachandran, Honorable Member of the Board, and Ms. Nidhi Zak Eipe, Chairperson, Board of the Rekha Eipe Memorial Fund for Education. Ms. Tascha Eipe, Member of the Board, joined the event via video conferencing, adding to the distinguished gathering.
Among the notable figures from Amrita were Dr. Bhavani Rao, Dean of the School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Dr. Balakrishnan Shankar, Dean of the School of Engineering, Dr. Viswanathan P. K., Principal & HoS of the School of Business, Prof. Avigdor Ableson, Marine Ecologist from Tel Aviv University, Dr. Parvathi V, Chairperson of the Department of Social Sciences, and Dr. V. S. Kochukrishna Kurup, Vice Principal of the School of Social & Behavioral Sciences.
The Rekha Eipe Memorial Scholarship is an endowment fund providing financial aid to talented female students in the Master of Social Work Program at Amrita.
For further details on the Rekha Eipe Memorial Scholarship:
1.1.2 One-shot scholarship campaigns: Amrita continues 20% scholarships for all women enrolling in Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham online programmes
Ahead of International Women’s Day on March 8, 2024, Amrita Online — the online learning division of Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham — once again offered a 20% scholarship on first-semester fees for all female students enrolling in its UGC-entitled online degree programs. This scholarship was available until March 31, 2024. In addition to this special initiative, Amrita Online has continued to offer scholarships of up to 100% for deserving candidates across its wide range of online programs, reinforcing its commitment to making education accessible to all.
This initiative is designed to empower female students across India by providing them with the opportunity to advance their education through Amrita AHEAD’s fully online, UGC-entitled programs.
Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham organized, in collaboration with ICPC Foundation, ICPC AlgoQueen 2024, a coding competition exclusively for women students. While boys were permitted to participate, they were not eligible for prizes. This approach created a dedicated and supportive platform for girls to develop coding confidence, collaborate with peers, and showcase their skills in an environment that actively addresses the underrepresentation of women in STEM. By making coding accessible and engaging, the initiative demonstrates to young women that programming is both a valuable career skill and an enjoyable pursuit.
For further information:
In 2024, The School of Social and Behavioural Sciences and its research centre Ammachilabs organized a series of workshops (12 in total) aimed at promoting STEM education among school children, encouraging girls to participate. These efforts saw the participation of 292 schoolgirls, representing 57% of the student participants.
The workshops covered a variety of themes and initiatives to foster technical skills and innovation.
These initiatives collectively empowered girls and young women by providing them with the tools and confidence to excel in STEM fields, contributing to a more equitable future in technology and innovation.
2.2.1 The Second Foundation Workshops
The Second Foundation Workshops aimed to teach 21st-century skills, focusing on game development, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and the Internet of Things (IoT) and 3D Modeling. Conducted in schools across rural India, these workshops emphasized hands-on, practical learning in a peer-to-peer environment.
Since end 2023, The Second Foundation from Ammachilabs conducted a series of impactful technology workshops across Tamil Nadu. Covering campuses from Amrita Vidyalayam Kanyakumari to AV Puducherry and AV Nallampalayam, the initiative aimed to equip students with essential skills in emerging technology domains.
For the year 2024 only, over the course of eight workshops, 113 female students participated in the program out of a total of 176 students, accounting for 65% of the total enrollment.
The students’ passion and curiosity shone brightly as they engaged with the tools and concepts that drive modern technology. Their enthusiasm and commitment to learning were a source of inspiration for everyone involved.
2.2.2 I-HUB Foundation for Robotics (IHFC) Project
In India’s dynamic educational landscape, there is a pressing need to equip students and teachers with digital-age skills, knowledge, and mindset.
To address this, the project “Transforming Education in India: Empowering Students and Teachers for the Digital Age” was launched in 2024, uniting two complementary workshops.
Workshop 1: Technology and Entrepreneurship for Children
An 8-day program comprising 5 days of skill training, 2 days of entrepreneurship education, and a 1-day Makeathon.
It nurtures innovation, problem-solving, and confidence, enabling children from rural and semi-urban schools to become both consumers and creators of technology.
Workshop 2: Ed-Tech and Generative AI for Students and Teachers
An 8-day program combining 5 days of skill training, 2 days of Generative AI, and 1 day of project development. It strengthens digital literacy, Ed-Tech proficiency, and responsible technology use, fostering a culture of lifelong learning.
Together, these initiatives promote inclusivity, innovation, and adaptability across diverse communities. They aim to bridge the digital divide, empower individuals as drivers of innovation, and create a future where learning knows no boundaries.
In 2024, 151 female students participated in the program out of a total of 281 students, accounting for 54% of the total enrollment.
2.2.3 Atal She STEM 2024-2025 Project
She STEM is a transformative initiative aimed at empowering young girls to explore, engage, and excel in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). The program seeks to address the gender gap in STEM education and careers by providing mentorship, resources, and opportunities for girls to innovate and showcase their talents.
By fostering curiosity and confidence, She STEM equips participants with skills to tackle real-world challenges, promotes inclusivity, and inspires the next generation of women leaders in technology and science. Often integrated with platforms like the Atal Tinkering Labs (ATL) and other innovation-driven initiatives, She STEM creates a supportive ecosystem where young minds can thrive and break barriers in STEM fields.
In 2024, 28 girl students from Amrita Vidyalayam participated in the project and presented their ideas through practical demonstrations. Their innovations included bio-based battery electrodes, sustainable energy solutions for villages, conversion of plastic waste into fuel, and solar-powered chargers.
In 2023 under the umbrella of Civil20 India, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham organized awareness campaigns on gender equality by inviting school students to take a pledge for gender equality and to create human formations of the C20 logo on gender equality and women’s empowerment. We also invited them to reflect and nominate role models who made a difference in their life for gender equality.
Through these campaigns, we have been inspiring prospective students, especially young women, to join Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham and realize their full potential.
Amrita partnered with the Directorate of Education, Government of Delhi, and with the Ministry of Vocational Education & Skill Development, Uttar Pradesh, and deployed the campaign in 2,000 schools in Delhi and 4,000 schools in Uttar Pradesh.
The Grand Finale of the campaign in Delhi took place on July 25th, 2023 in the Tyagaraj Stadium, Delhi with 5,000 school students participating in person and 14,00,000 Live Stream.
Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Chennai Campus, organized the C20 Gender Equality Campaign on 25 July 2023. The event was presided over by Sampoojya Swami Vinayamritananda Puri, Administrative Director, along with Sri I. B. Manikantan, Campus Director, and Dr. V. Jayakumar, Principal.
Students highlighted challenges faced by girls and women, stressing the urgent need for a change in societal attitudes. They emphasized that women are inherently strong and should draw upon this inner strength to face any challenge. The message was powerfully conveyed through dance, music, skits, and speeches.
Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham has consistently championed women’s empowerment and gender equality, putting these principles into practice with students and program beneficiaries. By fostering a culture of support and equality, we inspire prospective students and their families, showing the real impact of our commitment to meaningful change.
Since 2016, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham has been appointed as India’s UNESCO Chair on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment, reflecting our commitment to excellence in advancing gender equality and empowerment.
Within Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, the Centre for Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equality hosts all the activities of the UNESCO Chair. This includes research, training, and program development in the field of gender equality and women’s empowerment. Our research and field projects mostly focus on empowering women and girls through vocational and life skills training, using the latest technologies. To this day, more than 300,000 women have benefited from these projects in both India and Africa.These projects have inspired numerous applicants and students to start or continue their education at Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham.
More information about our activities: Click here
The Amrita Gender Harmony workshop was created to promote gender equality across the institution by equipping students, teachers, and administrators with tools to recognize and overcome biases. The proposed course is a semester-long program. It uses participatory sessions, reflection, and group discussion to foster awareness and real-world action.
After initial teacher training in July 2022, the first student workshop took place in October 2023 with 29 undergraduate participants from the Dental School at Kochi campus.
Building on this, in March 2024, the Center for Women’s Empowerment & Gender Equality organized a special workshop for over 40 second-year Dental students, commemorating International Women’s Day. The sessions addressed gender stereotypes in the Indian context and introduced the DA-DA-DA principle—Daya (Compassion), Danam (Charity), and Damam (Self-Control)—as a framework for nurturing gender harmony in daily life.
Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham offers different mentoring schemes to uplift and accompany women students:
At Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, we are proud to announce that 85% (+2 points compared to last year) of the women students are mentored.
These tools demonstrate to parents and future students that Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham is committed to advancing gender equality across all its campuses.
For further information on the existing mentoring schemes
As part of the 9th Ayurveda Day celebrations, Amrita School of Ayurveda, in collaboration with the ASWAS Committee, organized an awareness session on various aspects of women’s health, particularly concerning menstrual health, breast and cervical health, sexual and reproductive health, and the services available at the hospital.
The primary focus of this awareness session was to educate the Social Work students about women’s health, particularly in areas that often go unnoticed or are stigmatized. The session sought to empower these future social workers with accurate information, enabling them to create an impact within communities by advocating for and educating others on women’s health issues.
For further info: Click here
Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham has established multiple anti-discrimination committees in accordance with the UGC (Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions) Regulations, 2012, and UGC (Grievance Redressal) Regulations, 2012. This indirectly assures potential female students that their rights will be protected.
These committees address issues related to the deprivation of access to education for students, faculty, and staff based on caste, creed, religion, language, ethnicity, gender, and disability.
For further info: Click here
4.6.1 Health
4.6.2 Safety and Security
4.6.3 Education
4.7.1 Building Bridges, Breaking Boundaries: International Symposium on Women’s Day
On March 7, 2024, the International Network for Sustainable Innovation & Resilient Futures (SustIN) hosted an event themed “Building Bridges, Breaking Boundaries” in honor of International Women’s Day. The event highlighted the achievements of women globally and promoted actionable steps toward gender equality, providing a platform for celebration, connection, and transformative initiatives.
4.7.2 Other online communication
Online communications about Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham’s International Women’s Day highlight its commitment to promoting gender equality on campus. By showcasing student testimonies, the institution nurtures aspirations and encourages more young women to pursue higher education at Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham.
Examples of communication online of this event: