International Women Day: “Mahila e-Haat”, launched by Smt. Maneka Gandhi

Mahila e-Haat will provide access to markets to thousands of women who make products and are spread all over the country: Smt.  Maneka Gandhi , WCD Minister.

The Minister of Women and Child Development, Smt. Maneka Sanjay Gandhi launched “Mahila e-Haat”, an online marketing platform for women. Mahila e-Haat is a unique online platform where participants can display their products. It is an initiative for women across the country as a part of ‘Make in India’, ‘Digital India’ and ‘Stand Up India’ initiatives of Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi.

Speaking on the occasion, Smt. Maneka Gandhi 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 to sell products online, the Minister added. Congratulating RahstriyaMahilaKosh and all those involved in creating the portal, Smt Maneka Gandhi said that it is web page based and has unlimited reach and can, therefore become catalyst in creating a new generation of business women.

The Minister said that this 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.

In his introductory remarks, Secretary WCD, Shri V. Somasundaran said that the Mahila E-Haat will help to meet the goal of financial inclusion of women and it is a big step forward for empowerment of women.

Mahila E-Haat is an initiative for meeting aspirations and need of women entrepreneurs which will leverage technology for showcasing products made/manufactured/sold by women entrepreneurs. They can even showcase those services being provided by them which reflect creative potential e.g. tailoring. This unique e-platform will strengthen the socio-economic empowerment of women as it will mobilize and provide better avenues to them. More than 10000 Self Help Groups (SHGs) and 1.25 Lakh women beneficiaries would be benefited from the day of launch of the site itself. Participation in e-Haat is open to all Indian women citizens more than 18 years of age and women SHGs desiring for marketing their legal products/services after indemnifying RMK from any or all acts of transaction.

The Mahila e-Haat portal can be accessed at   http://mahilaehaat-rmk.gov.in