AHMEDABAD: Ketakee Nimavat, Akash Choudhary, Aakash Parmar, Shruti Khatri, Vishwa Shah and Lipi mehta — all students from LD Engineering College — have created an online platform for rural women to help them access part-time employment opportunities . It is believed to be the first such portal for rural women in the state.“Called ‘Shodho’, the portal currently has listed enterprises that provide jobs of stitching, assembling of toys and embroidery. Each enterprise has an account and a profile page with complete details. The portal will display the list of job openings and the pay offered,” Nimavat told TOI. The students have approached several enterprises and gruh udhyogs (cottage industries) that are looking for women employees. The women will be employed at a decent pay after undergoing training by certified institutes. The students are also collaborating with NGOs to train these women.Nimavat said they want working rural women to be paid the money directly by enterprises. “The portal aims to streamline the complete process involved in the daily small-scale temporary jobs and remove middlemen who pocket most of the money as commission. This will help rural women get the most out of their work,” said Nimavat.Kutch artisan Gangaben Shah is among the rural women who will soon appear for an interview aimed at selecting rural women for training in jobs. She has been engaged in Kutchi embroidery for a long time but she was always uncertain about taking her business forward. Now, however, thanks to the city students, this will no longer be a problem for Gangaben and many other rural women like her.