The post- graduate departments of History, English, Punjabi and Political Science, Swami Premanand Mahavidyalaya Mukerian organised a National Commission for Women(NCW), India sponsored national webinar on the topic “Unequal Pay: Gender Discrimination at Workplace” on December 21, 2021. The major concerns of the webinar were Gender Discrimination: Unequal Pay, Disparity in Promotions, and Workplaces must eliminate gender discrimination to promote Gender Equality.

The keynote speakers of the day were Prof. Rajesh Gill (Panjab University Chandigarh), Prof. Sarita Aggarwal (Central University of Ahmedabad, Gujrat), Prof. Anupama Uppal (Panjabi University, Patiala), Prof. Sukhmani Bal (Panjab University Chandigarh), and Dr. Shaveta Kohli (Central University Jammu).

The programme commenced with the welcome address by Principal Dr. Sameer Sharma where he mentioned that despite many efforts, we need to work a lot towards improving the situation of Gender Equality in our society as well as in workplaces. While addressing the participants, Prof. Rajesh Gill mentioned that there are many initiatives and projects for reducing the gender discrimination at workplaces. However, women still face barriers in workplaces that men do not. Issues such as gender pay gap, stereotyping and unconscious bias are very much present at various workplaces. Prof. Sarita Aggarwal pointed out difficulties women face in their profession vis-a-vis solutions. She further said that workplace discrimination negatively impedes opportunities for women and affects them psychologically. Prof. Sukhmani Bal and Prof. Shaveta Kohli appealed that women should cognizant of their rights, raise their voice against all forms of discrimination and work towards eradicating unequal pay disparity and gender discrimination.

Dr. Pushpinder Kumari, Head, Department of History proposed a formal vote of thanks to the worthy speakers for the informative and detailed session on such a pertinent topic. She also thanked the college principal, the college managing committee and participants. The webinar was efficiently and effectively moderated by Dr. Kiranjit Kaur, Head, department of Punjabi and Ms. Nidhi Sood, Head, Department of English. Dr. Amrinder Kaur, Asst. Prof. Pankaj Sareen, and Asst. Prof. Parveen were also present.