Housewives’ network: Web women

India’s first web resource for ladies is "probably in the top five women’s interest portals in the world" in terms of content and services.

Put online eight years ago, sitagita.com has even created a clearing house for Indian women hoping to work from home.

"Women typically take a sabbatical from work during their child-bearing years as our country does not offer too many flextime opportunities," portal founder Nirmal Mirza told XPRESS in an e-mail interview.

"We encourage women to use their fullest potential in working from home as well, in any sphere whatsoever that they have a talent for."

The website’s online clearing house is a directory for women doing business from home, providing a B2B (business-to-business) and B2C (business-to-consumer) platform for them.

It also offers free service for the visitor and for the listing.

Mirza believes that the portal is also doing its bit in furthering a social cause for women.

"Women’s Home Business Directory would be the largest social cause we could service – financial empowerment of women though a service on the lines of e-Chaupal," she says.

e-Chaupal, an initiative of the India-based ITC group, directly connects consumers with farmers for the procurement of agricultural and aquaculture produce like soya, coffee and prawns. This was basically conceived with the idea of eliminating the role of middlemen who rake in maximum profits.

"Similarly, this website was meant to be a direct point of contact for women with the outer world, with no middlemen in between," says Mirza.

The website is special for more reasons than one.

"Not only is it the first web resource exclusively for women started in India, but it is also the only woman’s website that survived the dotcom bust," explains Mirza.

"The website basically caters to the myriad concerns of the Indian woman – a perfect blend of the modern and the traditional – like career, health, diet, fashions and money to travel, and it covers all age groups, from teenagers to homemakers to senior citizens."

It also aims to connect all Indian women around the world to share concerns and provide a platform for solutions.

About Mirza

• Nirmal Mirza is the former president of the International Women’s Association in India
• She founded the website with Prabha Chakravarthi
• The portal was funded by an organisation called Apcom with substantial monetary help from philanthropist Tripta Gir