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In a major step towards women's empowerment, the Tamil Nadu government is set to launch a one-stop digital platform, Women Information Bank (WIB), to support their employment, entrepreneurship, safety and well-being.
The initiative, backed by the Rs 1,185-crore World Bank-supported Tamil Nadu Women Employment and Safety (TNWeSafe) Project, aims to serve as an integrated hub for all women-oriented schemes and services across departments.
Designed as a multi-sectoral digital gateway, the WIB will provide easy access to information on skill training, career development, entrepreneurship, and welfare support.
It will also guide women to avail of childcare and elderly care facilities, hostels, and psychological or career counselling.
The platform will include networking opportunities, enabling women to connect with mentors, peers, and institutions that can support their professional and personal growth.
Officials said the WIB will offer comprehensive resources on healthcare, legal rights, mental well-being, social legislation, and personal safety.
It will also feature emergency support tools, including domestic violence helplines, police contact details, and maps of nearby one-stop support centres.
A secure digital space for women to report workplace harassment or discrimination will be built into the system, strengthening the grievance redressal framework.
The Social Welfare and Women Empowerment Department has already floated tenders for developing the platform, which is expected to go live within six months.
The goal, officials added, is to create a dynamic and data-driven system that helps track beneficiaries and enhance service delivery.
The WIB will integrate data from multiple departments, including Social Welfare, MSME, Skill Development, Health, Education, and Transport, to ensure interoperability and transparency.
It will also help in policy evaluation, real-time monitoring, and evidence-based decision-making for women-centric programmes.
The five-year TNWeSafe project focuses on three pillars - Employ (enhancing women's participation in the workforce), Enable (improving access to services and opportunities), and Empower (strengthening institutional systems). Earlier this year, tenders were also called for preparing state-level and district-level Women Quality Employment Plans (WQEPs and D-WQEPs) to identify challenges and improve women’s workforce participation across Tamil Nadu.