The IGNOU MAGD Project is two separate 4-credit courses: MGSP 1 in Year I and MGSP 2 in Year II. For each, you either intern with a gender and development organisation or run your own field study, guided by a counsellor whose CV the School approves. The handbooks print no proforma and no viva. Each course takes about 120 hours and ends in a typed, bound report of 4,000 to 5,000 words with two certificates, submitted to SED, with a Rs 300 evaluation fee.
- MGSP 1 and MGSP 2 carry 4 credits each, not 8, and neither is called a dissertation: the titles are Internship I / Field Based Research Project I and Internship II / Field Based Research Project II (Hand Books, title block and section 1.16; Prospectus, pp. 107 to 108).
- The only approval the handbooks print is SOGDS approval of your counsellor’s CV. There is no proposal proforma and no approval letter in either copy (sections 1.6 and Part II).
- Your Internship Counsellor is the head of the organisation or someone the head nominates, with an MA and 2 to 3 years of experience (section 1.6).
- The report goes to the Student Evaluation Division, not to the Regional Centre, and you keep an acknowledgement receipt (section 1.15).
- Evaluation rests entirely on the report, and two certificates, Bonafide Work and Satisfactory Completion, must be attached before it is evaluated (section 1.16).
- MGSP 1 is part of the Year I set that earns the PG Diploma in Gender and Development Studies if you exit after one year (Prospectus, p. 108).
The IGNOU MAGD Project is two courses: MGSP 1 in Year I, MGSP 2 in Year II
An IGNOU MAGD Project is not one long dissertation. The MA in Gender and Development Studies (MAGD) has two project courses of 4 credits each, and the Common Prospectus (July 2026) places them a year apart: MGSP 1 sits in Year I with MGS 1 to MGS 5, and MGSP 2 is the one compulsory course of Year II, taken alongside any eight of the ten MGSE electives.
| Point | MGSP 1 | MGSP 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Full title | Internship-I / Field based Research Project-I | Internship-II / Field based Research Project-II |
| Year and credits | Year I, 4 credits (Year I total 36) | Year II, compulsory, 4 credits (Year II total 36) |
| Courses it draws on | MGS-001 to MGS-005 | The MGSE electives you choose |
| Printed themes | 3 (section 1.4) | 10, one per elective (section 1.4) |
| Role in the exit diploma | Part of the Year I set for the PG Diploma in Gender and Development Studies | Needed only for the MA |
| Evaluation fee | Rs 300 | Rs 300 |
Built from the MAGD table on pages 107 to 108 and the fee rule on page 27 of the Common Prospectus (July 2026), with sections 1.3 and 1.4 of the MGSP handbooks.
What the IGNOU MGSP 1 Project asks of a first-year learner
Section 1.3 of the handbook ties MGSP 1 to the Year I courses. An internship lets you watch how a government or non-government plan is carried out on the ground, which is what MGS-004 Gender-Sensitive Planning and Policy Making teaches; a field study lets you apply the gender analysis methods of MGS-003 and the research methods of MGS-005.
What changes in the IGNOU MGSP 2 Project
MGSP 2 asks for depth in one thematic area. You build the study, or choose the organisation, around the elective you are studying in Year II, for example Gender Audit and Gender Budgeting or Gender and Financial Inclusion. The handbook does not require MGSP 2 to extend your MGSP 1 topic, and it does not forbid it either.
The handbooks give the purpose plainly: to analyse organisations from a gender perspective and to examine how policies, programmes and projects are formulated and implemented (section 1.5), and to use the methods of MGS-005 to generate your own data (section 1.9).
At our desk, the most common opening line from MAGD learners is that nobody taught them how to begin an IGNOU MAGD Project, and that topic selection is where they feel lost. The handbook expects that start much earlier than most people make it: theme chosen within six to ten weeks of receiving the study material.
Many learners also wait for the second, extended date they expect IGNOU to announce before they open the MGSP handbook at all. Whether a date is extended is IGNOU’s decision, and a 120-hour course does not fit into the last fortnight either way.
इग्नू MAGD कार्यक्रम में दो प्रोजेक्ट कोर्स हैं: पहले वर्ष में MGSP 1 और दूसरे वर्ष में MGSP 2, दोनों 4-4 क्रेडिट के। हर कोर्स में आप किसी जेंडर एवं विकास संगठन में इंटर्नशिप कर सकते हैं या अपना फ़ील्ड आधारित शोध कर सकते हैं। काउंसलर का सीवी स्कूल (SOGDS) के निदेशक और कार्यक्रम समन्वयक को अनुमोदन के लिए भेजा जाता है। रिपोर्ट लगभग 4,000 से 5,000 शब्दों की, टाइप की हुई और बाउंड होती है और विद्यार्थी मूल्यांकन प्रभाग (SED) में जमा होती है। रिपोर्ट आपके माध्यम के अनुसार हिंदी या अंग्रेज़ी में लिखी जा सकती है, और हर कोर्स का मूल्यांकन शुल्क 300 रुपये है।
One handbook printed twice: what changes between MGSP-001 and MGSP-002
SOGDS publishes the rules for the IGNOU MAGD Project as two handbooks, and they are almost the same document. Read side by side, the MGSP-002 copy changes only the parts listed below; every rule on counsellors, hours, report structure, submission and evaluation is word for word the same.
| Where | MGSP 001 Hand Book | MGSP-002 Hand Book |
|---|---|---|
| Section numbers | 1.1 to 1.17 | 2.1 to 2.17 |
| Linked courses (1.3) | MGS-001 to MGS-005, with a paragraph on MGS-004 | The ten MGSE electives |
| Themes (1.4) | Three MGSP I themes plus the ten MGSP II themes | The ten MGSP II themes only |
| Policy, programme and project explained in | MGS-004 | MGSE-001 |
| Closing line | Consult your counsellor or the Programme Coordinators | Adds that “the Annexure in handbook for MGSP-001 would be useful” |
Our line-by-line comparison of the two eGyanKosh files (handles 64822 and 64838), read in November 2026.
Four loose ends follow from that comparison. The MGSP-001 copy on eGyanKosh ends on a blank IGNOU watermark page, so the annexure the MGSP-002 copy points to is not in the file IGNOU publishes. The MGSP-002 copy still says “Internship-II worth would be worth 4 credits each” and “Both courses”, carried over from the joint text. Section number 1.7 is used three times and 1.8 never. And the MAGD programme page lists MGSP-2 under “Year 1”, while the prospectus puts it in Year II; the prospectus is the document to follow for the year.
Students show us MGSP plans drafted with ChatGPT or another AI tool before anyone has read the handbook, and the plan lists parts the MGSP proposal does not have while missing the time frame it does.
Others go looking for “the MAGD proforma” and attach one borrowed from MMPP-001 or another course. MGSP prints none; ask the Programme Coordinators about the annexure the MGSP-002 copy mentions instead of filling a different programme’s form.
Documents for the MGSP courses, official and ours
- MGSP 001 Hand Book (English, PDF), SOGDS, eGyanKosh 2020 upload
- MGSP-002 Hand Book (English, PDF), SOGDS, eGyanKosh 2020 upload
- MGSP-001 Hindi file and MGSP-002 Hindi file on eGyanKosh (record pages; we have not read these files)
- MAGD programme page, ignou.ac.in
- Common Prospectus, July 2026, pp. 27, 35, 107 to 108
- Sample field-research proposal for MGSP 1 (5 pages, six parts of section 1.12, place and numbers left blank)
- Report format template for both routes and both courses (5 pages, empty tables and sentence frames)
- Both are watermarked study reference, prepared with AI assistance by our editorial desk. Neither may be submitted, copied or signed as your own work.
Video: the MGSP courses explained
Our video walks through choosing a gender and development topic and structuring the report. Where it and this page differ, this page follows the handbooks as read in November 2026.
Internship or field-based research, chosen course by course
Each part of an IGNOU MAGD Project offers the same two routes, and the handbook frames the choice as yours: intern with an organisation working on gender and development, or carry out a field-based research project on a theme and locale you choose. Nothing in either handbook says the route you take for MGSP 1 binds you for MGSP 2.
| Point | Internship route | Field research route |
|---|---|---|
| Counsellor | Internship Counsellor: head of the organisation or a nominee | Project Counsellor you identify |
| Essential qualification | MA with 2 to 3 years experience | MA with 2 to 3 years experience in research |
| Sent to SOGDS | Intimation of the organisation and the counsellor’s CV; the eight organisation details with your objectives follow (the handbook names no recipient for them) | The counsellor’s CV |
| Planning document | Internship proposal (section 1.7) | Six-part research proposal finalised with the counsellor (section 1.12) |
| Hours | 120, for example 25 days of 4 hours plus 20 hours of reading and writing | 120 across proposal, literature, data, analysis and writing |
| Certificates issued by | The organisation | The Project Counsellor |
Built from sections 1.6, 1.7, 1.10, 1.12 and 1.16 and Part II of the MGSP 001 Hand Book.
MGSP 002 field based research project or internship: how to decide
Pick the internship if an organisation near you will let its head, or a qualified nominee, act as counsellor and issue both certificates. Pick the field study if your strength is MGS-005 methods and you can reach respondents where you live or work. As a planning point of our own: a field study can be spread over evenings and weekends, while an internship needs the organisation’s working hours, so anyone already working in an NGO often has the internship at hand.
Many MAGD learners leave the decision so late that neither route leaves enough time to do the work themselves; both need 120 hours, and an internship cannot be compressed into one weekend.
Others ask the study centre coordinator to assign a counsellor and wait. For MGSP the handbook leaves the choice of organisation and counsellor to you, so nothing arrives unless you find one.
Rs 300 for each course, paid with the exam form
Each part of the IGNOU MAGD Project carries its own evaluation fee. The Common Prospectus (July 2026, p. 27) sets project evaluation fees, from the January 2023 admission cycle, at Rs 300 for projects up to 4 credits and Rs 500 above 4 credits, paid with the term-end examination form. MGSP 1 and MGSP 2 are 4 credits each, so the amount is Rs 300 for each course, paid in the session in which you submit that report.
For the December 2026 session, news reports from October 2026 say IGNOU set 30 November 2026 as the last date for project, internship and practical course fees through Samarth; we had not read IGNOU’s own notice when this page was built, so check the announcements section of ignou.ac.in. The programme fee itself is Rs 7,500 a year (Rs 15,000 for the minimum two years), with exam fees extra.
MAGD learners often arrive having read about the Rs 500 fee on another programme’s page. For a 4-credit MGSP course the prospectus slab is Rs 300.
Many are also unsure whether a published last date refers to their proposal or their report. MGSP has no proposal deadline in either handbook; the session dates SED publishes apply to the report and its fee.
Your counsellor: an MA, two to three years, and a CV that SOGDS approves
The MGSP handbooks never use the word supervisor or guide for an IGNOU MAGD Project. They name an Internship Counsellor for one route and a Project Counsellor for the other, and both are approved through the same step: the learner sends the counsellor’s CV to the Director, School of Gender and Development Studies and the Programme Coordinator, MA(GD), Maidan Garhi, New Delhi 110068, for approval.
Who qualifies, route by route
| Counsellor | Essential | Desirable | Tasks printed in the handbook |
|---|---|---|---|
| Internship Counsellor (section 1.6) | MA with 2 to 3 years experience; the head of the organisation or a person the head nominates | Professional experience with an organisation specialised in gender and development work, or an M.Phil | Help identify the organisation; clear doubts; help pick the area to work on; help finalise the report in time |
| Project Counsellor (Part II) | MA with 2 to 3 years experience in research | Research experience on gender and development themes; M.Phil | Help finalise the research area; help write the proposal; clear doubts; help finalise the report |
Faculty, or experts designated by faculty, give academic advice when a learner needs it (section 1.6). The handbook prints no limit on how many learners one counsellor may guide and no honorarium.
A CV for this purpose should let SOGDS check the rule in one reading: the counsellor’s name and contact, the MA subject and year, years of experience (research years for the field route), the organisation and position, and any gender and development work or M.Phil. Our checklist below is built from the qualification lines; the handbook itself does not list CV contents.
- Name, designation, organisation, address, phone and email
- MA (subject, university, year); M.Phil if any
- Total years of experience, and years in research for a Project Counsellor
- Gender and development work, if any, with dates
- For an Internship Counsellor: a line showing the person heads the organisation or has been nominated by its head
Most MAGD learners who reach us have not read the counsellor qualifications at all, and some have already asked a person without an MA or without research experience to sign as Project Counsellor.
A common story is that no counsellor was suggested, so the learner approached a relative or a family contact. That can work only when the person actually meets the essential qualification for the route; check it before you send the CV.
On other IGNOU courses we see approvals reach students weeks or months after posting; for synopses our experience is two to three months. The MGSP handbooks print no reply period for the CV approval, so send the CV as soon as the counsellor agrees, and keep a copy of what you sent.
Three themes for MGSP 1, ten for MGSP 2
Topics for an IGNOU MAGD Project start from the themes printed in section 1.4. They are themes, not titles: you turn one into a question about a place, a group and a period you can actually study. The handbook adds two pieces of advice: select a topic contextualised in the area of your work or residence, and allow some flexibility to change it early, because changing it again and again later wastes time (sections 1.11 and 1.12).
| Course | Printed theme | Course to read first | A direction to narrow it (ours; several follow IGNOU’s own assignments or papers) |
|---|---|---|---|
| MGSP 1 | Gender Development Goals and Praxis | MGS-002 | Self-help groups and women’s economic participation in one block |
| MGSP 1 | Gender Analysis | MGS-003 | A gender analysis framework applied to one local programme; action research in a community |
| MGSP 1 | Gender-sensitive Planning and Policy Making | MGS-004 | Women’s voice in village planning, such as the Mahila Sabha held before the Gram Sabha |
| MGSP 2 | Gender Planning and Development Policies | MGSE-001 | Practical and strategic gender needs in one scheme’s design |
| MGSP 2 | Gender Audit and Gender Budgeting | MGSE-002 | A local body budget read from a gender perspective; a participatory gender audit |
| MGSP 2 | Gender Mainstreaming | MGSE-003 | How one department or NGO builds gender into its projects |
| MGSP 2 | Gender Issues in Agriculture, Rural Livelihoods and Natural Resource Management | MGSE-004 | Women farmers’ access to land records, credit or extension services |
| MGSP 2 | Gender, Resources and Entitlements | MGSE-006 | Awareness and use of a welfare entitlement among women in one ward |
| MGSP 2 | Gender, Organization and Leadership | MGSE-007 | Women in leadership posts in one organisation, written up as case studies |
| MGSP 2 | Gender Issues in Work, Employment and Productivity | MGSE-009 | Women in informal work in one market or sector |
| MGSP 2 | Gender and Entrepreneurship Development | MGSE-010 | Women entrepreneurs and loans, starting from lead bank and block data as the handbook suggests |
| MGSP 2 | Gender Training and Empowerment | MGSE-013 | Before and after a gender training run by an NGO |
| MGSP 2 | Gender and Financial Inclusion | MGSE-020 | Self-help group credit and bank linkage, using Block Development Office and lead bank figures |
Our suggestions, not an IGNOU list: the themes and course titles are printed in section 1.4 and the Prospectus; several directions follow MAGD assignments and term-end papers or the examples in section 1.13, and the rest are ours. Settle your own title with your counsellor.
Students often believe they must copy one of the section 1.4 themes as their title word for word. They are areas to work in; “Gender Analysis” by itself is not a study.
On courses where an evaluator reads the synopsis, we regularly see it returned with a request to base the study on the student’s own city or district. The MGSP handbook builds that advice in from the start (section 1.11).
Proposals built from widely shared material tend to carry the same topic as many other learners’ work, and duplicated topics are a common reason for return on the courses we see. A place-based question is much harder to duplicate.
Internship route: the organisation and the eight details SOGDS asks for
Choosing the internship for an IGNOU MAGD Project means choosing an organisation first. Section 1.6 lets you pick one that is active in gender and development work, one trying to become active in it, or one receptive to building a gender-sensitive organisational culture, and asks you to intimate the Programme Coordinators (MAGD), School of Gender and Development Studies, Block 15 B, New Academic Building, Maidan Garhi, New Delhi 110068. The handbook also prints two email addresses as Internship Coordinators, athomas@ignou.ac.in and guma@ignou.ac.in; the prospectus now lists the MAGD coordinators as Prof. Savita Singh (savitasingh@ignou.ac.in) and G. Uma (guma@ignou.ac.in), so copy both current coordinators when you write.
The MGSP 001 internship report starts with this proposal
Section 1.7 asks for these details, sent along with the objectives of doing the internship:
- Name of the Organization
- Address
- Name of the head of the organization
- Name of the person designated as Internship Counsellor
- Objectives of the Organization
- Year of Registration
- Registration Number
- Nature of Work with women and girls / Gender and Development sphere
The same organisation details reappear in your report under Organizational Profile, so collecting them carefully now saves rewriting later. The handbook does not say whether the proposal goes by post or email; it follows the intimation rule, so send it to the same coordinators.
The internship details that reach us are often incomplete: the registration number or year missing, the head’s name absent, and now and then the learner’s own name, enrolment number or email left out of the covering note.
When students email or post the intimation, many keep no copy and no proof of sending. Save the sent email or the postal receipt; it is your only record until SOGDS replies.
Several learners send the intimation and the counsellor’s CV in the final week before the report is due, which leaves no time for the 120 hours the course expects.
120 hours per course, counted
Time on an IGNOU MAGD Project is measured in hours, not months. One credit is 30 study hours, so each 4-credit MGSP course is 120 hours. For the internship the handbook gives the arithmetic itself: 4 hours a day in the organisation for at least 25 days makes 100 hours, and the remaining 20 go to secondary reading, meeting the counsellor and writing (section 1.7). For field research, the 120 hours cover developing and discussing the proposal, the literature review, primary and secondary data, analysis, interpretation and writing (section 1.10).
There is no twelve-month timeline, ethics committee stage or oral defence in either handbook. Section 1.11 does ask you to start a diary or logbook on enrolment and to fix your theme within six to ten weeks of receiving the study material.
120-hour internship and field-days planner
An estimate. The 120 hours per course and the four-hours-a-day for 25 days example are printed in the MGSP handbooks; the stage weights and the calendar arithmetic are ours.
This planner needs JavaScript. The arithmetic is written out below it.
Internship: working days are 100 divided by your hours a day, rounded up; weeks are those days divided by your days a week, rounded up; the last 20 hours are left for reading, counsellor meetings and writing, as in section 1.7. Field research: the 120 hours are split into eight stages taken from section 1.10, weighted 12, 10, 18, 10, 35, 15, 15 and 5 hours by us, and each stage’s finishing week is the running total divided by your weekly hours, rounded up. IGNOU sets no such split.
In our records, 70 to 80 per cent of students become active only in the last month before a submission date, and when that date falls in November most start in October. For MGSP the handbooks print no last date at all; the dates are SED’s session dates for the report.
When a counsellor asks for several rounds of changes to the proposal, the start of fieldwork can slip by weeks. Section 1.12 warns against changing the plan again and again once work has begun; build one revision round into your calendar.
Field research route: the six-part proposal for an IGNOU MAGD Project
What students call the synopsis is, in the MGSP handbooks, the research project proposal of section 1.12, and it has exactly six parts. You can discuss it with your Project Counsellor and finalise it, including its feasibility; the handbook prints no instruction to post it to IGNOU and no approval form for it.
| Part (section 1.12) | What to put in it | Where it is tested later |
|---|---|---|
| (a) Title of the Research Project | Topic, group and place, so the reader knows what was studied and where | Report cover page (section 1.14) |
| (b) Introduction to the Topic/Theme | The theme from section 1.4, why it matters in your area, the policy or programme involved | Introduction chapter |
| (c) Research Questions | Three to five questions your data can answer | Conclusion answers them one by one |
| (d) Purpose and Objectives of the Research | Objectives worded neutrally, each matched to a question | Evaluation criterion: setting and fulfilling objectives (section 1.16) |
| (e) Appropriate Research Techniques/Tools | Interview schedule or questionnaire, participatory tools, case study, documents, and how many respondents | Methodology chapter; section 1.13 asks you to justify each |
| (f) Time Frame | Your 120 hours by stage | Process is evaluated along with outcome (section 1.12) |
Parts and their order are printed in section 1.12; the middle and right columns are our reading of how sections 1.13 to 1.16 use each part.
Hypotheses, a statement of the problem, a chapter scheme and an ethics section are not among the six parts. If your counsellor wants a hypothesis for a quantitative study, it can sit under research questions; it is not a printed requirement. Our sample MGSP 1 proposal (PDF) shows the six parts filled for a Mahila Sabha study, with your own facts left blank.
MGSP counsellor and certificate check
Built line by line from sections 1.6 to 1.16 of the MGSP 001 and MGSP-002 Hand Books (SOGDS) and page 27 of the Common Prospectus (July 2026), read in November 2026.
This check needs JavaScript. Every rule it applies is listed below it.
Counsellor: an MA with 2 to 3 years of experience, in research for the field route, and a CV sent to the Director, SOGDS and the Programme Coordinator (section 1.6 and Part II); the check accepts 2 years or more. Internship: the eight organisation details plus your objectives (section 1.7) and the intimation to the coordinators (section 1.6). Field route: the six proposal parts (section 1.12). Report: 4,000 to 5,000 words with appendices counted, since section 1.7 gives 4,000 to 5,000, section 1.9 about 4,000 to 5,000, and section 1.15 says five thousand including appendices; typed, double spaced, A4, bound (section 1.15); two certificates issued by the organisation or the Project Counsellor (section 1.16). Fee: Rs 300 for projects up to 4 credits, paid with the exam form (Prospectus, p. 27). The check reports what is in place; it does not predict how an evaluator will mark the report.
Many proposals that reach us skip core parts printed in section 1.12, such as the research questions, the objectives or the techniques, while adding sections the MGSP handbook never asks for.
Others name no tool at all under techniques: no interview schedule, no questionnaire, no list of documents to be read. Without that line the counsellor cannot judge feasibility.
When the time frame is missing, so is any sign that the study fits 120 hours, and learners discover the shortfall only in the field.
Have the MGSP draft read before your counsellor signs
Second reading for MGSP 1 and MGSP 2The counsellor is the only reader before the evaluator. In the MGSP drafts we read, the literature review often cites studies that never appear in the bibliography, and some drafts are AI-written text pasted in unchanged, which is exactly where the same topics and sentences start repeating across learners.
In your MGSP proposal and counsellor packet, we read for
- All six parts of section 1.12, in order
- Research questions that the objectives actually answer
- Named techniques and tools, with a sample you can reach
- A time frame that fits 120 hours
- For the internship: all eight organisation details and your objectives
- A counsellor CV that shows the MA and the 2 to 3 years
In your 5,000-word MGSP report, we read for
- The part order printed for your route (section 1.7 or 1.14)
- A 100-word preface and the abbreviations list on page four
- References in the MGS-005 manner, matching the text
- Tables interpreted, conclusions tied to the questions
- Both certificates in place and signed by the right person
- Length counted with appendices, inside 5,000 words
See how our synopsis and report correction works
Synopsis correction Rs 1,000; report correction Rs 2,000. You send your own draft; we return it with corrections against the MGSP handbooks. You remain the author of the proposal and the report, and IGNOU’s evaluator decides the result.
No proforma: the forms the MGSP handbooks do print, box by box
Students searching for an IGNOU MAGD Project proforma will not find one in either handbook. What the handbooks print are four lists that behave like forms: the internship proposal, the counsellor CV packet and two cover pages. The map below covers every box in them, who fills it, and what to watch.
| Box | Who fills it | What to watch |
|---|---|---|
| Internship: name of the organisation | Learner, from the registration certificate | Use the registered name, not a short form |
| Internship: address | Learner | The address where you will actually work |
| Internship: name of the head | Learner | Must match the person who nominates the counsellor |
| Internship: Internship Counsellor | Learner, after the head agrees | Same name as on the CV sent to SOGDS |
| Internship: objectives of the organisation | Learner, from the organisation’s own documents | Quote them as the organisation states them |
| Internship: year of registration | Learner | From the registration certificate |
| Internship: registration number | Learner | The box most often left empty |
| Internship: nature of work with women and girls | Learner | Concrete programmes, not a slogan |
| Internship: your objectives | Learner | What you will learn or analyse in 120 hours |
| CV packet: addressed to | Learner | Director, SOGDS and Programme Coordinator, MA(GD), Maidan Garhi, New Delhi 110068 |
| CV packet: the CV | Counsellor | MA and years of experience visible on page one |
| Internship cover page: name, enrolment number | Learner | Enrolment number as on the IGNOU ID card |
| Internship cover page: Regional Centre, Study Centre | Learner | Both names, as on your admission record |
| Internship cover page: Internship Counsellor | Learner | Same name as approved |
| Research cover page: title of the research project | Learner | Same title as the finalised proposal |
| Research cover page: school, degree, university | Learner | School of Gender and Development Studies; MA (Gender and Development Studies); IGNOU |
| Research cover page: enrolment number, Regional Centre | Learner | As on the ID card |
| Research cover page: Research Counsellor | Learner | Name as approved by SOGDS |
| Research cover page: year of submission | Learner | The year you hand it to SED |
| Certificate of Bonafide Work | Organisation (internship) or Project Counsellor (research) | Signed and dated by them, never by you |
| Certificate of Satisfactory Completion | Organisation (internship) or Project Counsellor (research) | Signed and dated by them, never by you |
Box names from sections 1.6, 1.7, 1.14 and 1.16 and Part II; the second and third columns are our guidance. Adding the course code, MGSP 001 or MGSP 002, to the cover page is our advice for clear filing.
On courses that do print a proforma, we keep seeing it returned because the title box was left blank. The MGSP equivalent is the research cover page; the title there should match your finalised proposal word for word.
Many learners also ask which papers travel with the proposal and whether it must be bound. For MGSP, the handbook asks only for the counsellor’s CV and, on the internship route, the organisation details; binding applies to the final report.
We have seen synopses on other courses returned when the guide’s bio-data lacked a stamp or an ID. The MGSP handbook asks for the counsellor’s CV and prints no stamp rule; a CV on the organisation’s letterhead simply removes doubt.
Data you collect yourself, and how the handbook wants it explained
For the field route of an IGNOU MAGD Project, section 1.13 sets out five steps: determine the data you need, prepare for collection, identify secondary sources, collect primary data, and explain how you did it. The data list it prints is specific to gender and development work: relevant Acts and policies, maps, census figures for the area, a socio-economic survey of the sample population, issues identified through participatory methods, institutional structures and processes, and case studies of social change or conflict.
Its own examples show the spirit: a learner studying gender and financial inclusion goes to the Block Development Officer for the number of self-help groups and to the lead bank for sanctioned loans; a learner studying women entrepreneurs first collects loan details and counts of women running enterprises, then chooses respondents. In the report you must explain and justify the design of the questionnaire or participatory tool, how anyone helping you was identified and briefed, how field records were supervised and checked, and how the data were processed, including software. MGS-005 covers sampling, SPSS and qualitative data handling; our page on building a questionnaire for an IGNOU project helps with the tool.
Some students write the analysis chapter on figures they assumed instead of a survey they ran. Section 1.9 says the field study exists to generate your own data, and an evaluator who reads section 1.13’s questions about supervision and verification will look for exactly that.
Many MAGD reports lean on secondary data alone. On the internship route an organisational analysis can rest largely on documents; on the field route the handbook expects primary data as well.
In many reports the data chapter is too thin to carry the objectives: a few tables with no interpretation under them and no link back to the research questions.
IGNOU MAGD Project report format for each route
The report format of an IGNOU MAGD Project depends on the route, and the handbook prints a different order for each. The internship report “could be organized” in the eleven parts of section 1.7; the field-based research report “needs to follow” the structure of section 1.14.
| Order | Internship report (section 1.7) | Field research report (section 1.14) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cover page: name, enrolment number, Regional Centre, Study Centre, Internship Counsellor | Cover page: title, school, enrolment number, degree, Research Counsellor, year, university, Regional Centre |
| 2 | Certificate of Bonafide Work | Preface of about 100 words |
| 3 | Certificate of Satisfactory Completion of Internship | Acknowledgement |
| 4 | Introduction | Abbreviations list (the handbook puts it on the fourth page) |
| 5 | Organizational Profile | Table of Contents with page numbers |
| 6 | Organizational Gender Policy or Gender Sensitivity | Introduction |
| 7 | Aspects Learned / Analyzed | Review of Literature |
| 8 | Organizational Projects and programmes: Formulation and Implementation | Methodology of the Study |
| 9 | Integration of Gender Components in Organizational Projects and programmes | Data Collection, then Data Interpretation |
| 10 | Conclusions and Recommendations | Conclusion |
| 11 | Summary | Bibliography, then Appendix |
Appendices are expected on the research route: section 1.14 names government orders related to the study, photographs and other secondary information. A blank copy of your interview schedule belongs there too. The research list does not place the two certificates; bind them where they do not push the abbreviations list off page four, for example after the table of contents. Rows 4 and 5 of the research column are our arrangement: section 1.14 lists the table of contents fourth but also asks for the abbreviations on the fourth page. Our report format template (PDF) lays out both orders with empty tables.
After the proposal stage, many learners tell us they have no idea which format the report should follow, because they never noticed the handbook prints two.
Page order is the next question, and for MGSP it differs by route: the internship report puts the two certificates straight after the cover page, while the research report opens with a preface and an abbreviations page.
Questionnaires and appendices are often left out altogether, even though the research structure ends with an appendix.
Five thousand words, one language, one reference style
Length is the rule most MAGD learners misread. Section 1.7 gives 4,000 to 5,000 words and section 1.9 about 4,000 to 5,000; section 1.15 says “The length of the report should be five thousand words, including appendices, other documents”. Read together, a report of an IGNOU MAGD Project should stay within 5,000 words with everything counted, and the handbook gives no allowance above it.
- Format: A4, typed in double spacing, in a bound volume (section 1.15). No font or margin is printed.
- Language: English or Hindi, according to the medium you selected; photographs, films and other material in the same script (section 1.14).
- Abbreviations: full form at first mention with the short form in brackets, then the short form; all of them listed on the fourth page (section 1.14).
- References: the manner taught in MGS-005, alphabetical by author’s surname, then initials, year, the title in italics, publisher and place; sources of data and quotations from books, journals, unpublished documents and websites all stated (section 1.14).
- Editing: write a first draft, then edit for content and language; the handbook even suggests exchanging drafts with co-learners for comments.
Some reports reach us far beyond the length the handbook sets and are sent back for it; for MGSP the ceiling is 5,000 words with appendices counted, which leaves no room for long background chapters.
Reference lists often follow no single pattern and do not match the sources cited in the text. MGSP has a printed style, so the fix is mechanical: surname, initials, year, italic title, publisher, place.
An outdated literature review is the other common weakness; in our experience it costs marks, and “current literature review” is one of the evaluation criteria in section 1.16.
Two certificates before anyone reads the report
An IGNOU MAGD Project report is not evaluated without two certificates: section 1.16 makes them prerequisites on both routes, a Certificate of Bonafide Work and a Certificate of Satisfactory Completion. For the internship they are issued by the organisation or institution; for field research, by the Project Counsellor. Both are attached to the report.
The handbooks do not ask for an approved proposal, a proforma, a declaration of originality or the counsellor’s bio-data to be bound into the report. Older advice that lists those items for MGSP is borrowed from other IGNOU courses.
Many reports come back to students because the required certificates are missing; for MGSP the list is short, which makes a missing certificate harder to excuse.
Some reports carry a certificate with the counsellor’s name typed but no signature or date.
A few learners attach every filled questionnaire at the end. The handbook does not ask for them, and a blank copy of the tool is the common practice.
Submitting at SED, and the online upload each TEE
Section 1.15 sends the report of an IGNOU MAGD Project to the Student Evaluation Division (SED), not to the Regional Centre or the study centre: keep a copy of the report and obtain an acknowledgement receipt after submitting it at SED. Each MGSP course is a separate report with its own fee.
IGNOU now also runs an online upload for project reports in each term-end session. Its June 2026 page asked for a single PDF per course, a first page showing the title, learner’s name, programme code, enrolment number, Regional Centre code, course code, mobile number and email, and it stated that emailed reports are not considered; queries go to projects@ignou.ac.in. For December 2026, news reports describe an Online Project Management System on Samarth with 30 November 2026 as the last date; read IGNOU’s own notice for your session, follow the one route it names, and do not send the same report twice. The MGSP handbooks print no deadline of their own; the session dates IGNOU announces apply to the report. Our December 2026 submission dates page tracks the notices, and the project status guide explains what to do after submitting.
Some students email the report to a coordinator instead of using the SED route; IGNOU’s online project page says emailed reports are not considered.
Others hand in the report and leave without the acknowledgement receipt section 1.15 tells them to collect.
Many are unsure how many copies to make. The handbook asks you to submit the report at SED and retain a copy yourself; it mentions no second submitted copy.
The report carries every mark, and neither handbook prints a viva
In an IGNOU MAGD Project, section 1.16 gives the whole weightage of each course to the internship report or research project report. Approved evaluators read it against printed criteria, and no viva, presentation or oral defence appears anywhere in either handbook or on the MAGD programme page.
| Internship report is judged on | Research report is judged on |
|---|---|
| Relevance and scope | Relevance and scope |
| Current literature review | Current literature review |
| Attention to detail in setting and fulfilling objectives | Attention to detail in setting and fulfilling project objectives |
| Organisational analysis | Suitable research design, methodologies, methods, tools and techniques |
| Use of statistics, where appropriate | Use of statistics, where appropriate |
| Relevant, meaningful conclusions, implications and recommendations | Relevant, meaningful conclusions, implications and recommendations |
Criteria as printed in section 1.16 of the MGSP 001 Hand Book.
Re-evaluation of a project is not covered in the MGSP handbooks; IGNOU’s general rules for results apply, and our re-evaluation page explains them.
Many learners ask us whether a viva applies to MGSP. Neither handbook describes one; the evaluation rests on the report.
On courses that return proposals with comments, the most common correction we see is to bring the literature review up to date. MGSP has no such return, so that correction lands at evaluation instead, under “current literature review”.
Most approvals we see on other courses carry correction or modification points; with no approval letter in MGSP, your counsellor’s comments are the only ones you get before evaluation, so work them in.
Copying costs two learners their reports
Section 1.15 is blunt: if you allow your report to be copied by co-learners for submission as their reports, you and those who submit such copies are disqualified, and all of you have to do the work again. That covers sharing a finished report within a study group, which is how many IGNOU MAGD Project reports end up looking alike.
The same logic applies to text taken from the internet or generated by AI and pasted in without your own work behind it: the evaluator is reading for your process as well as your outcome (section 1.12). Our page on whether an IGNOU project may be handwritten answers the related question students ask; for MGSP the handbook asks for a typed report.
Many students lift paragraphs from websites and submit them without checking for plagiarism. No checker makes copied text your own work; write from your notes and cite every source.
A few still bring handwritten drafts as the final report. Section 1.15 asks for a typed report in double spacing.
Asked about MGSP 1 and MGSP 2
What is the IGNOU MAGD Project?
The IGNOU MAGD Project is the pair of project courses in the MA in Gender and Development Studies: MGSP 1 in Year I and MGSP 2 in Year II, 4 credits each. Each can be done as an internship or as a field-based research project, and each ends in its own report.
What is the IGNOU MGSP 1 Project?
MGSP 001, Internship I / Field Based Research Project I, is the Year I project. It draws on MGS-001 to MGS-005 and has three printed themes. It also counts towards the PG Diploma in Gender and Development Studies if you exit after Year I.
What is the IGNOU MGSP 2 Project?
MGSP 002, Internship II / Field Based Research Project II, is the compulsory Year II project, built around the MGSE electives you study. It has ten printed themes, one per elective, and the same 4 credits, 120 hours and report rules as MGSP 1.
Where should MGSP-1 and MGSP-2 be submitted?
At the Student Evaluation Division (SED), with an acknowledgement receipt, according to section 1.15 of both handbooks, or through the online upload IGNOU names for your term-end session. The handbooks do not send MGSP reports to the Regional Centre.
Can MGSP-1 and MGSP-2 be submitted together?
They are different courses in different years, each with its own report and its own Rs 300 fee. MGSP 2 belongs to Year II, so it follows your Year II registration; if both are pending in the same session, each still goes in as a separate report.
Is fieldwork compulsory in MAGD projects?
You choose between an internship and a field-based research project for each course. If you choose field research, the handbook expects you to generate your own data; a desk review alone does not meet that route.
Can the same topic be used for MGSP-1 and MGSP-2?
The handbooks do not forbid building MGSP 2 on MGSP 1, but they link MGSP 2 to the Year II electives, so a second report needs a new question within an elective’s theme. Submitting the same study twice would not be your own new work.
Who can guide the MAGD project?
A counsellor with an MA and 2 to 3 years of experience: for the internship, the head of the organisation or a nominee; for field research, a person whose experience is in research. The counsellor’s CV goes to the Director, SOGDS and the MAGD Programme Coordinator for approval. Our general guide eligibility page covers other courses.
Can I write the MGSP report in Hindi?
Yes, if Hindi is your medium. Section 1.14 says the report is written in English or Hindi depending on the medium you selected, and the MAGD programme is offered in both.
Whom do I ask if SOGDS does not reply about the counsellor?
Write to the MAGD Programme Coordinators, whom the prospectus lists as Prof. Savita Singh (savitasingh@ignou.ac.in, 011-29571613) and G. Uma (guma@ignou.ac.in, 011-29571616), quoting your enrolment number and the date you sent the CV. Many students who reach us after one or two months without news simply do not know whom to contact; these two addresses are the answer.
Students still ask whether the MGSP proposal goes to the study centre, the Regional Centre or Maidan Garhi. For MGSP, the counsellor’s CV and the internship intimation go to SOGDS at Maidan Garhi, which is correct for this course, and the report goes to SED.
On courses that send written comments with an approval, many students skip working them in. For MGSP the counsellor’s comments play that role; carry them into the report.
Before an IGNOU MAGD Project leaves your hands
Run this list on the evening before an IGNOU MAGD Project report goes to SED or is uploaded. Every line comes from the handbooks or the prospectus.
- Course and route clear on the cover page: MGSP 001 or MGSP 002, internship or field research
- Counsellor’s CV sent to SOGDS, and the counsellor’s name the same on every page
- Internship: eight organisation details and your objectives sent; research: six-part proposal finalised
- Part order of section 1.7 or 1.14 followed, preface and abbreviations page in place for research
- Within 5,000 words, appendices counted; typed, double spaced, A4, bound
- Both certificates signed and dated by the organisation or the Project Counsellor
- Rs 300 fee for this course paid with the exam form; a copy of the report kept; acknowledgement receipt collected
A few students still send the final report spiral bound. Section 1.15 asks for a bound volume, so take it to a binder the day before.
We have also seen students wait for a reply that never came and run out of session. If SOGDS has not answered about your counsellor, write again to the coordinators well before the SED date rather than at the counter.
Need a second reading of your own MGSP draft, or printing and binding in Delhi? Message the ignouproject.com desk on WhatsApp, +91 93546 37830. ignouproject.com provides customised project guidance, topic refinement, methodology support, review and correction of learner-written synopses and reports, formatting and citation support, reference material, printing and binding, and project status and result guidance. Studying MAWGSR instead? Its project is a different course with its own manual: see the MWGP 101 guide. All programmes are listed on our projects page.
What this page was checked against
- IGNOU, School of Gender and Development Studies, MGSP 001 Internship I / Field Based Research Project I, Hand Book (eGyanKosh, 2020; 17 pages, read in full, November 2026).
- IGNOU, School of Gender and Development Studies, MGSP-002 Hand Book (eGyanKosh handle 64838, 2020; 16 pages, read in full, November 2026).
- IGNOU, Common Prospectus, July 2026: project booklet (p. 24), project evaluation fee (p. 27), MAGD fee row (p. 35), MAGD programme table and exit diploma (pp. 107 to 108).
- IGNOU, MAGD programme page: fee, duration, medium, coordinators, course list (read November 2026).
- IGNOU SED, online project submission page for the June 2026 TEE: single PDF, first-page details, emailed reports not considered, fee rule.
- IGNOU, SOGDS, MAGD assignments 2026-27 (MGS-003), used for topic directions; MAGD term-end papers on webservices.ignou.ac.in, used the same way.
- News reports of October 2026 (Careers360, CareerIndia, FindMyCollege) on the December 2026 Online Project Management System and the 30 November 2026 fee date; IGNOU’s own notice had not been read when this page was built.
BK Sahni founded Shri Chakradhar Publication Private Limited, New Delhi, which has served IGNOU distance learners since 2010 with help books, guess papers and project guidance, using its own printing press and in-house editorial team. He is the author of Mind Loop. He publishes this page under his editorial responsibility; it was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the documents listed above.
ignouproject.com is an independent service run by Shri Chakradhar Publication Private Limited. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by IGNOU. Rules on this page come from the documents listed above; IGNOU’s notices for your session decide.
BK Sahni iD 0009-0005-8092-459X
Founder, Shri Chakradhar Publication Pvt. Ltd. & ignouproject.com — helping IGNOU distance-learning students since 2010 (5,00,000+ students supported across MBA, MCom, MA & more). Author of IGNOU exam guides, solved assignments & project reference books.
Disclosure: Shri Chakradhar Publication Pvt. Ltd. and ignouproject.com are independent third-party study-help services — not the official IGNOU website. Always verify final dates and rules on ignou.ac.in.
