How we widen access to university, protect everyone from discrimination and harassment, support under-represented groups, and make our campuses work for people with disabilities.
UPES report on Sustainable Development Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities, 2025–26.
Sahayak Hackathon. In July 2020 the School of Computer Science, with UPES ACM and ACM-W, brought 816 participants from 110 institutions together with people living with visual and hearing impairment, autism, cerebral palsy and Parkinson's disease to build AI, AR, VR and biometric solutions to the barriers they face. Source: UPES brings disabled persons together for Sahayak Hackathon (Garhwal Post).
Patents and intellectual property.UPES holds 2,314+ intellectual property rights, made up of 813 patents, 943 designs and 558 copyrights, with 139 granted (December 2025).Source: UPES R&D Newsletter, July–December 2025: IPR at UPES.
UPES admits students on merit under a policy that bans discrimination, and publishes the reason for each positive-action scheme it uses to widen access.
5,000+scholarships for women offered under Shakti, 2020–2022
20%Shakti tuition scholarship for girls scoring over 60% in Class XII
25%of seats reserved for Uttarakhand residents, each with a 25% tuition scholarship
A non-discriminatory admissions process
Merit and non-discrimination. UPES admits students on merit. Its Non-Discrimination and Anti-Harassment Policy covers every student and bans any preferential or adverse treatment based on race, colour, gender, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, marital status or disability. Under the Policy on Inclusion of Students with Disability, the admissions process is designed so that all applicants have an equal opportunity to demonstrate their abilities. Source: Non-Discrimination and Anti-Harassment Policy, Policy on Inclusion of Students with Disability.
Uttarakhand domicile. A quarter of seats are reserved for students with Uttarakhand domicile, each with a 25% tuition scholarship every semester, so local students can study close to home. Source: UPES scholarships.
UPES tracks the applications and admissions of under-represented students through its access schemes, and reports the results every year.
1,300+women supported by Shakti scholarships in a year
6,844students receiving scholarships, 2023–24
₹46 crorein scholarships, 2023–24
What UPES tracks
Tracking women applicants. UPES tracks the applications and admissions of women, including how many apply for and receive Shakti scholarships: more than 1,300 young women benefited in a single year, and more than half of about 2,000 merit scholarships for 2022–23 were reserved for girls. Source: Tracking women applicants, SDG 5.3.1 evidence, UPES scholarships.
Reporting scholarships every year. UPES records the students admitted through each of its access schemes, from Jyoti fee waivers for 51 low-income students a year to seats reserved for Uttarakhand residents, and reports the scholarships it awards each year: 6,844 students received scholarships worth ₹46 crore in 2023–24. This shows how far its schemes reach women, low-income students and young people from remote parts of Uttarakhand. Source: UPES scholarships.
UPES takes planned action to bring in students, staff and faculty from groups that are under-represented in higher education.
Students
Talented students from remote areas. Project Abhilasha brings meritorious students from marginalised parts of Uttarakhand to campus for a month-long residential coaching camp for engineering entrance exams, and Project Protsaahan funds the full degree of meritorious students from the Purkal Youth Development Society. Source: Project Abhilasha, Purpose: UPES social initiatives.
Each of these schemes is a planned action to bring in students from groups that are under-represented in higher education: women through Shakti and merit scholarships reserved for girls, students from low-income families through Jyoti and Protsaahan, young people from Uttarakhand's remote areas through the domicile reservation and Project Abhilasha, and students with disabilities through accessible admissions under the Policy on Inclusion of Students with Disability. On the staff side, UPES's Principles of Engagement commit it to equal-opportunity hiring, and the Shakti leadership programme develops women employees for senior roles.
Staff and faculty
Equal treatment at work. UPES's Principles of Engagement make it an equal opportunity employer: hiring, promotion, transfers, pay, benefits and training are decided without regard to gender, caste, religion, age, marital status, nationality, ethnicity, sexual orientation or disability. Source: UPES Principles of Engagement, Code of Conduct, clause 3.3.7.
Women leaders. The Shakti leadership programme selects women employees for nine months of training in adaptive skills, emotional intelligence, business communication and team management, to prepare them for leadership roles. The programme runs over five modules, and successive cohorts, including Shakti 4, have completed it. Source: UPES SDG 8 report.
The Shakti 4 cohort of women leaders at the Management Development Centre.Shakti 4 participants with their trainers, 2023.
Hiring on merit, for a diverse workforce. UPES's Recruitment and Selection policy commits the university to equal opportunity and to attracting a diverse workforce with a wide range of abilities, experience and skills. Hiring is based only on merit and is not influenced by an applicant's gender, caste, religion, age, marital status, nationality, ancestry, ethnicity, geographical origin, sexual orientation or disability, and anyone found discriminating in hiring faces disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal. Source: UPES Principles of Engagement, Recruitment and Selection, clause 3.1, page 26.
Equal opportunity to develop. Once hired, every employee has the same access to training and development: UPES commits to deciding on learning and development without any discrimination on grounds of race, gender, disability, age, marital status, sexual orientation or religion. Source: UPES Principles of Engagement, Learning and Development, clause 3.1, page 75.
This section covers the indicator on planned actions to recruit students, staff and faculty from under-represented groups.
UPES's Non-Discrimination and Anti-Harassment Policy covers every student, faculty member, employee and staff member, with clear ways to report and resolve complaints.
The policy
The policy bans any preferential or adverse treatment based on personal characteristics, including race, colour, gender, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, marital or civil partnership status and disability. It defines harassment as any verbal or physical conduct that undermines a person's dignity, in speech, writing, images or online, and commits UPES to investigate every report promptly, fairly and confidentially.
Anti-Ragging Committee. UPES constitutes an Anti-Ragging Committee every academic year and publishes its members, so that new students know whom to approach about ragging. The committee for 2026–27 is published on the UPES website. Source: Anti-Ragging Committee 2026–27.
Every year all employees and Internal Complaints Committee members complete Prevention of Sexual Harassment (PoSH) training, in person and online.
This section covers the indicator on an anti-discrimination policy.
An Equal Opportunity Cell, an SC/ST Cell and dedicated committees advise on and put into practice UPES policies on equality, diversity, inclusion and freedom from discrimination.
Committees
Equal Opportunity Cell. UPES has set out its arrangements for equity and an Equal Opportunity Cell in a notice issued by the Head of Student Experience and Engagement. Students or groups of students can bring complaints of discrimination or harassment on grounds such as gender, religion, caste or social status to an Anti-Discrimination Officer, who must decide them within 60 days; anyone unhappy with the decision can appeal to the Head of the institution within 90 days. The cell also runs seminars and workshops on bias to support under-represented groups. Source: Equity and Establishment of Equal Opportunity Cell.
SC/ST Cell. On 1 July 2025 UPES established an SC/ST Cell for the academic years 2025–27, in line with University Grants Commission regulations, to ensure effective and transparent redressal of grievances of disadvantaged groups. The Vice-Chancellor chairs the cell, which has a liaison officer, faculty members from the Schools of Business, Health Sciences and Technology, Advanced Engineering and Computer Science, deans and senior faculty as coordinators, and a member secretary from the Chief Proctor's office. Source: Promotion of Equity and Establishment of SC/ST Cell.
Committee for Students with Disabilities. A dedicated Committee for Students with Disabilities works alongside the Anti-Discrimination Committee, which covers caste, religion, gender, disability and similar grounds, the Internal Complaints Committee and the grievance redressal mechanism, and together they back the Support Centre for Minority Groups on campus. Source: Student facilities: Support Centre for Minority Groups, page 4.
This section covers the indicator on a diversity and equality committee or office.
UPES pairs every student with a faculty mentor and offers counselling, with extra support for students from minority communities and for those who face barriers to higher education.
Mentoring women students. Since UPES declared 2020 its Year of Women Empowerment, the Shakti programme has combined fee support for women students with skill-development and leadership sessions, industry exposure and close mentoring. Source: UPES goes the extra mile to promote gender parity, Women's mentoring through Shakti.
Counselling around the clock. Under the UPES Cares programme, the We Care helpline offers counselling 24 hours a day to students, faculty, staff and their families. Students can also consult psychologists and therapists online at no cost through Sanjeevani with Practo, a clinical psychologist provides crisis support, and the Main Hoon Na employee assistance programme gives employees and their families a free, confidential counselling helpline. Source: UPES mental health support services.
A buddy for every new employee. Under the Buddy System (Sahayak), every new member of staff or faculty is paired with a peer who has been at UPES for at least a year, to help them settle in and answer their questions in their first days. Buddies are chosen for their willingness to support others and their communication skills, and periodic workshops train them for the role. Source: UPES Principles of Engagement, Buddy System (Sahayak), clause 3.4, page 38.
Echoes of Inclusion. During Legal Odyssey 2025, the School of Law's induction for new students, a session on 9 July 2025 used skits and reflections to question stereotypes around language, region, class and gender and build a campus culture of empathy. Source: Echoes of Inclusion, Legal Odyssey 2025 (LinkedIn).
Echoes of Inclusion, a session on stereotypes and empathy for new law students.
Celebrating every shade. Anandotsav 2025, themed "Celebrating Every Shade of Us – Together", brought more than 1,000 employees from different schools, departments, cultures and roles, with their families, together in one celebration of diversity. Source: UPES SDG 8 report.
Step-free offices let staff and students who use wheelchairs move around independently.A ramp with handrails at a building entrance.An accessible washroom with grab rails.A sloping walkway beside the steps, Kandoli campus.
This section covers the indicator on accessible facilities for people with disabilities.
Under the Policy on Inclusion of Students with Disability, UPES makes admission accessible and gives students with disabilities one place to ask for help and a mentor to plan their support.
From admission to graduation
Accessible admissions. Students with disabilities are encouraged to discuss their accommodation needs during admission with the Office of Accommodations. All admission activities, including applications, interviews and assessments, are structured to be accessible, and reasonable accommodations are provided so that applicants with disabilities can take part equitably, without changing academic requirements. Source: Policy on Inclusion of Students with Disability.
Accessible learning in the library. The UPES Library has a dedicated section for Divyangjan (people with disabilities) that offers screen reader software and virtual labs, so students with visual and other impairments can use its learning resources. Source: UPES Library.
Innovation for inclusion
The School of Computer Science, with UPES ACM and ACM-W, ran the Sahayak hackathon, where students used AI, machine learning and augmented reality to design solutions for the challenges faced by people with disabilities.
This section covers the indicator on access schemes for people with disabilities.
UPES policies set out reasonable accommodations for students, staff and visitors with disabilities, in class, in examinations and around campus.
The policy
Accommodation policy. The Policy on Inclusion of Students with Disability, based on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, sets out reasonable accommodations for students: extra exam time, rest breaks and separate testing rooms, assignment extensions, note-taking and reading assistance, screen readers and captioning. The UPES Disability Facility Access Policy (1 July 2024) requires faculty and staff to provide reasonable accommodations for students, staff and visitors, such as adjusted teaching methods, exam accommodations and physical access, and is reviewed every year. Source: Policy on Inclusion of Students with Disability, UPES Disability Facility Access Policy, 1 July 2024.
Children of workers. Project Samvedna runs a day school on the campuses for the children of migrant construction workers, with education, day care, mid-day meals, medical check-ups, clothing and uniforms. Source: UPES CSR reshaping lives of young students.
Skills for the support workforce. The UPES Skills Academy trains security and housekeeping staff in English, computers and communication, starting with a batch of 20, and Project Grow teaches housekeeping staff communicative English and digital skills such as using smartphones and digital payments. Source: How UPES is contributing to the SDGs.
Rural women. Project Vikalp trains women in nearby villages to make eco-friendly products such as recycled-paper pencils and to grow medicinal and aromatic plants, with design and marketing support. Source: Project Vikalp.
3 events from UPES schools and departments support this goal. Each event has its own report with a description, photograph and, where one exists, a link to the original post.
At the School of Law’s induction for new students, a session on 9 July 2025 used skits and reflections to question stereotypes around language, region, class and gender.
Students of the Pro Bono Club, under the Ministry of Law and Justice, held an awareness camp at Cheshire Homes on legal rights, inclusion and social awareness.
Every website and document used in this report, and the sections it supports. Each initiative and event also has its own page, linked from its name in the report.
