Swayamsiddha (Institutional Distinctiveness)

Asmita  College is located in Kannamwar nagar No.2,Vikhroli East a central suburb of Mumbai. . The college mainly caters to students of middle  and lower middle class background, majority  of whom reside in semi urban environment. The Founder of the Institution, Late Shri Madhukar Narvekar Sir And Secretary, Anupama Narvekar Madam’s foresight was the driving force behind the humble beginning of the Institution,  with traditional courses of BA and BCOM in 1993, solely for the girl students to provide them a chance to give expression to their creativity and abilities. Afterwards with the changing scenario of the society, the management also introduced Self -Financing Professional courses like BSC IT and Computer Science and eventually,  the Asmita law college.

• • Being an  iconic institution for women, Asmita College always attracts  the interest of the parents of girl students.  Majority of staff members are women and young women students freely approach them without hesitation to discuss any curriculum related or even personal matters. Continuous and constant support from management promotes a family atmosphere which is very conducive to overall growth.
• • This is the only college exclusively for Women in central suburban area. The location of this college is most advantageous not only to the young women staying in the vicinity but also those who hail from adjoining areas like Powai, Airoli, Sakinaka and even Panvel. 
• • As distinctive quality education with gender safety is imparted , many parents prefer to educate their girls through  Asmita college which is evident from  a frequent observation that  two/three sisters from same family take admission and complete their graduation successfully.. 
• • Majority of the parents are Rikshawalas, small vendors, or engaged in house keeping, security jobs. They are largely illiterate, or with minimal  educational background, and cannot support and guide their daughters for holistic development 
• • On the other hand, these young women are expected to become highly productive members of the society. But in the real scenario most of them are unable to utilize their potentialities due to lack of guidance and motivation. Lack of exposure, less support from  parents, lack of individual initiatives  of students, indirectly affects their personality adversely.
• • The Vision of the institution is empowerment of women through education which aims at molding the students to face challenges in life and profession. Observing the nature and background of the students, College in collaboration with IQAC started the Mission to shape the all round personality of the students, known as Swayamsiddha. ( Swayam :meaning Self , Siddha: meaning one who is accomplished-Swyamsiddha is  One who has learnt to accomplish by oneself. ) 

• • Swayamsiddha is the initiative of Asmita college which trains the young women to achieve the goals in life through developing various aspects of personality , mental well being,legal awareness, Physical fitness and basic skills for sustainable income.

World is becoming competitive by the day and thus the importance to develop oneself ( to make siddha) to stay afloat, fight or overcome the challenging environment is a necessity. Swayamsiddha   by empowerment of young women  students can definitely bring improvement in the social set up and community structure.

SWAYAMSIDDHA

• • Vision  :   Empowerment of Young Women through All Round development.

• • Mission: Raising self .reliance and self .confidence to face future  challenges.

• • Objectives : 

1. 1. To improve young women’s personality  by fostering self .awareness.
2. 2. Emotional upliftment and mental well-being of young women students.
3. 3. To inculcate employability skills among young women students.
4. 4. To give awareness about legal Rights to the young women students..
5. 5. To develop the positive force or ability to protect oneself.

   Swayamsiddha acts as a formidable vanguard in the personality development of young women students with following five pillars –

• • Personality development under Swayamsiddha: Metacognition,,nurturing self awreness, is the ability with which young women students can see themselves (Swayam)  clearly and objectively through reflection and introspection. With expert guidance they begin to see how their strengths and weaknesses affect their performances. Young women students can self evaluate and bring positive change in the personalities 

• • Life  skills education under Swyamsiddha: Develops  mental wellness by enriching emotional & intellectual skills in young women students who are the important building blocks for a dynamic society, who can cope with future challenges, and survive with good mental well being. It helps the young women students to achieve their goals, by strengthening their mental abilities to meet the needs and demands of the present society and be successful in life 
• • Legal awareness under Swyamsiddha : The principle of Gender equality is enshrined in the Indian constitution. The Constitution not only grants equality to women but also empowers them to adopt measures of positive discrimination in favour of women. However due to non awareness of legal rights women face exploitation and discrimination.Thus to make students aware about their rights at early age under SWAYAMSIDDHA, legal rights awareness guidance lectures are arranged by legal experts.

• •
  Employability skills under Swyamsiddha: As majority young women students are from low income families, they must have  basic skills with which they can earn and support family. under swayamsiddha the employability skill development initiatives are undertaken
• •
  Self Defence under Swyamsiddha :The women fail to protect themselves from sexual violence and random attacks, mainly because of fear. The self-defence program under Swayamsiddha improves self-confidence and trains them to  reduce dependency on others. The self defence training makes the young women  healthy and fit through physical exercise and yoga. With self defence training activities young women learn to handle dangerous and emergency situations that maybe caused by strangers.

Conclusion : Under the Swayamsiddha program of Asmita college, the various skills developed through active participation of students and faculty, gives the young women students an active, participative and positive-thinking approach and thus helps to make them siddha (accomplished) for quality-life for themselves as well as others, on their Swayam (own).

Success begins with a person’s will;
It’s all in a state of mind.
Life’s battles don’t always go
To the stronger and faster human,
But sooner or later the people who win
Are the ones who think they can.