Google launches campaign to get more women in India to use the Internet

Google is one of a number of companies that firmly believes that everyone has a right to Internet access, and that’s the motivation behind a new campaign in India designed to bring 50 million women online for the first time.

The ‘Helping Women Get Online’ campaign kicked off today with a press conference and the launch of a website aimed at communicating the basics of the Internet to first-time female users in India.

Rajan Anandan, managing director of Google India, told reporters that only one-third of India’s 200 million-plus Internet users are female, and that’s a ratio that needs to change since the country is tipped to become the world’s second largest Internet market in the future.

“[Access to the] Internet can help women achieve self esteem, express their views freely, open up new opportunities and help them to gain education. Our new campaign aims to bring 50 million women online in the next one year so that they can reap the benefits too,” Anandan added.

In addition to providing useful information — such as computer basics, Internet skills and details of how to use chat and email services — the website includes a range of video stories designed to highlight the benefits of the Internet to women. There’s even a toll-free hotline for further information.

Google has partnered with Intel, Hindustan Unilever and Axis Bank to help raise offline awareness and educate women “to use Internet to improve their lives and enable easy access points across the country.”