Abstract: Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) established by an Act of Parliament in 1985 is one of the largest university in the world operating with the core objective of promoting opportunities for higher education and achieving its vision ‘reaching the unreached’. Analysing the role of IGNOU in the advancement and development of higher education through its outstretched academic and professional programmes, the University confers to provide education to the people, more particularly the women and the marginalised sections of the