Mahila-e-Haat to empower women in the country
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, June 19 2016:
For the first time, the Ministry of Women and Child Development launched 'Mahila-e-Haat' on March 7 this year to utilize the power of technology for economic empowerment of women.
Mahila-e-Haat portal is an online platform dedicated to all the women in the country to strengthen their ability and earn income.
This portal enables them to display their goods and services for direct interaction with customers.
Deviating from the traditional approach of providing marketing opportunity to women, Mahila-e-Haat portal, within a month of its operationalization, has 10,000 Self Help Groups (SHGs) impacting 1.25 lakh women.
A vast variety of goods are already displayed on the site including clothes, jewellery, gift-items, natural and organic products and services including tailoring, mahendi arts etc.
The Ministry of WCD launched this portal as an initiative for meeting aspirants and need of women entrepreneurs which will leverage technology for showcasing their products.
This unique e-platform will strengthen the socio-economic empowerment of women as it will help to mobilize and provide better avenues to them.
Empowerment of women will take place in three stages in which Mahila E-Haat is the first stage.
In the second stage, it is planned to integrate it with e-commerce portals to provide a larger platform for selling and buying.
Ultimately it will culminate into Women's Entrepreneurs Council which will help to expand this initiative further and give it an institutional shape, stated Union Minister of WCD, Maneka Gandhi on June 7 at the All India Women Journalists' Workshop held at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.
Further she said that, this initiative can prove to be a game changer since it will provide access to markets to thousands of women who make products and are spread all over the country but have little access to markets.
The initiative is unique since this is the first time that the Government will help women sell products online.
With this portal, a large number of womenfolk in Manipur too can grab the opportunity through SHGs.
Most SHGs in the State deal in weaving, handloom and handicrafts, embroidery, tailoring, wool-knitting, food processing, fishery, piggery, vegetables farming, making dish wash and detergent, silk reeling, cane and bamboo, poultry and duckery, candle making, incense stick making, pottery, wood carving, horticulture plantation, mushroom plantation, vermi compost etc.