The Women’s Development Cell has now become an integral part of St. Mary’s College since its launch in the year 2007. 

The members of WDC Committee 2009-10 were:
Ms. A Aruna – Coordinator  
Ms. Deepa Agarwal – Member
Ms. Y Sujatha - Member
Ms. Sowjanya - Member
Ms. Dr. Madhuri - Member
Ms. Fareeha – Member

The Objective of the Women’s Development Cell is “to maintain a congenial working environment for women employees and students. This Committee looks after the safety of all females within the campus. It also looks into the matter of gender bias apart from solving any kind of physical, mental or psychological harassment faced by any female”.

This year too, the Women’s Development Cell took off with much determination to fulfill all the expectations of the college and especially of the women. All the standard awareness activities were conducted apart from encouraging the girls to approach the Cell with any issues they have. A platform to exhibit their talents was also provided thanks to Little Women and the Singing Competition.
The first event of the year proved to be huge success. Scheduled on the 17th of July 2009, the inaugural event of the year had basic grooming tips for the girls. The experts invited for the same were Ms. Roshan, a professional cosmetologist from the reputed Shanaz Hussain institute. She demonstrated with the help of volunteer’s basic make up tips for the lady staff and students. Ms. Roshan asserted the belief of looking presentable while she answered numerous queries. She was followed by Ms. Aparna from Exteriors and Interiors Pvt. Ltd who spoke about the basic scope in Interior Designing and the career opportunities available. 

On the 11th of August 2009, the WDC arranged for a Power Point Presentation on Cervical Cancer by Dr. Fehmida Banu, MD;DGO;DiNBE;MRCOG. In her presentation she emphasized on causative agent HPV (Human Papiloma Virus) its infestation in the human body. She advised everyone to go for regular checkups since the symptoms are not obvious. The audience was requested to get vaccinated as soon as possible since a definite cure is not yet discovered for this disease. The students were very glad to receive a first hand account of this killer disease. 

The 1st of September 2009 saw the unveiling of the WDC annual magazine, Little Women. Prior to its release, the guest of the say Nafeesa Ismail of the Maarg foundation spoke at length about Women Empowerment. The III Issue of Little Women was released by Mary Reddy Mam amongst a lot of cheers for the Editor Ms. Manisha and the sub Editors Ms. Swati and Ms. Surabhi. This was followed by a singing competition judged by Ms Sandhya, the daughter in law of Dr. P Susheela, Ms Nafeesa Ismail and Mr. Ebenezer. Ms. Aparna from BA Mass Comm bagged the first prize while Ms Swapna took the second and Ms Surabhi the third in student category. Ms Chandra Madhavi from the department of Physics came first while Ms. Vijayashree from Psychology came second. Ms. Sandhya sang a popular number which was greatly enjoyed by the audience leading to encore. The event ended after the winners were awarded by the Principal. 

As a final event of the year, the Women’s Development Cell arranged a guest lecture by Mrs. Rahath Khan, a cosmetologist and Spa Therapist to talk to the lady staff members about basics of skincare, hair care and grooming. Mrs. Rahath Khan is a trained cosmetologist and certified Spa therapist from Italy. She runs a spa of her own called Reflections Spa. She conducted free skin analysis test and scalp analysis test and gave some tips on how to maintain a healthy skin and scalp. As the discussion closed, she offered discount on membership fee of Reflections Spa exclusively for St. Mary’s staff.  All the staff members were delighted to receive a small complimentary goody bag with a skin care product that Mrs. Rahath presented them with Ms A Aruna and Ms. Maria sponsored two girls under the program Nanhi Kali. The year for WDC ended on a satisfied note since innovative awareness activities were incorporated in the Plan of Action and each of them was an instant hit. The WDC hopes the coming year will be more promising and the surpasses the achievements of this year.