Female students in IITs increased from 8% in 2016 to 20% in 2021

India's premiere premier institution has increased to 20 per cent in 2021 from 8 per cent in 2016, say the government data.

New Delhi, Dec 14: The Centre has revealed that the enrolment of female students in undergraduate courses in Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) has been increased to 20 per cent in 2021 from 8 per cent in 2016. The government provided the data in the Parliament on Wednesday.

Speaking in Rajya Sabha in response to a question, Union Minister of State for Education Subhas Sarkar said there has been a consistent improvement in the enrolment of female students in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) courses.

"To improve female enrolment in undergraduate programmes in IITs, supernumerary seats were created which increased female enrolment from 8 per cent in 2016 to 20 in 2021-22. Similarly, the enrolment of girls in NITs has increased to nearly 22.1 per cent in 2021-22," he said, according to a report in PTI.

The University Grants Commission provides special post-graduate scholarships for girl students across the country to encourage them in pursuing higher education and research. Similarly, the All India Council for Technical Education is also providing 10,000 scholarships to girls pursuing technical education.

As per the All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) Report, the number of female students enrolled in STEM courses has increased from 41.97 lakh in 2016-17 to 43.87 lakh in 2020-21.

The government-owned Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are public technical institutes located across India. They are under the ownership of the Ministry of Education of the Government of India. They are governed by the Institutes of Technology Act, 1961, declaring them as Institutes of National Importance and laying down their powers, duties, and framework for governance as the country's premier institutions in the field of technology.

There are 23 IITs across the country.

With inputs from PTI