Driven by experiences in their respective professions, three women have come together to launch a first of its kind online television channel to exclusively highlight achievements of women and cater to their needs while seeking viable solutions for their grievances.
With “By the women, for the women,” as its motto, WTV has been conceptualised by marketing professional, Piyoosha Sharma, social activist Suneeta Dhariwal and journalist Manisha. The three are honorary directors of this non-profit venture under the umbrella of Ankit Dhariwal memorial trust. Through news bulletins, documentaries, talk shows and blogs, WTV plans to bring out the hidden stories of women worldwide.
It will highlight issues related to women, which do not get adequate space in mainstream media. The enrolled members will work as volunteers putting together the stories that would be uploaded by a central team of professionals.
Ms Dhariwal who has been working for women in Haryana says she always wanted to do something for distressed women surviving on the streets in villages. While the grim faces of women relegated to the margins of society motivated her to initiate the project, WTV is also a tribute to her son, Ankit, who was a student of journalism but died in a road accident.
While WTV would provide a common platform for sharing “motivational information” for women, Ms Dhariwal said that an outreach would be attempted through film festivals in rural areas and imparting skill upgradation that was beyond the usual “sewing machine” classes. WTV also plans to initiate a “craftshop” to market the products manufactured by women at their homes.
Ms Sharma said that WTV had already spread itself to some parts of the country and established its network in Chandigarh, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore. She said the channel plans to engage experts including media persons, lawyers, doctors, teachers and management professionals to provide necessary guidance and inputs for software generation. Though it was a non-profit venture, WTV would finally be developed as a corporate entity.
Ms Sharma said online linkaging, with a worldwide reach, was economically more viable as it provided an efficient means to upload the videos of the compiled and edited programmes. She narrated how the initial programmes, which were already uploaded on the website: www.wtvindia.com were shot using ordinary handheld video cameras, which were borrowed from friends.
Manisha is of the opinion that lack of an exclusive platform had always been a hindrance for women to speak out loud at the personal or social levels. Women had a bucket list of achievements but do not have a proper medium to communicate, she says adding that at WTV their identity and work would speak for women in every sphere.
