Armed with an explosive name, Purdafash is aiming to become in the citizen journalism space, what Tehelka.com is to mainstream media. Started by people with smart academic credentials– an IIM Calcutta graduate, an IIT Kharagpur engineer and a graduate student in journalism, Purdafash is the aiming to become the epicenter on the web for sharing or reading tell-all stories. These could be political, social, or personal in nature, but where the focus is on rallying public opinion for a just cause. Purdafash is not a non-profit venture; it’s founders describe it as a social-entrepreneurship initiative. They want to give a voice to the common masses in Indian, whose problems may not be deemed newsworthy by the conventional media.

Their revenue model is advertising based; in future, they plan to have a revenue sharing deal with people uploading stories for selling it to mainstream media, with that person getting a majority share of the deal.

So how does this work? Registered users can upload accounts of problems they are facing accompanied by videos, pictures etc. Others can read these stories and reach out to the contributors in case they can help. In case the story strikes a chord with the masses, Purdafash will attempt to bring it to the notice of the mainstream media, who otherwise might not be aware of it. This is their editorial policy where they have laid out the ground rules for what kind of content is accepted by them, and the kind of moderation they might do.

Check out some samples stories – this video of how autorickshaw meters are tampered in Delhi, this video for an expose of the conspiracy behind the death of an advocate in Allahabad and this one about the Union Carbide gas victims in Bhopal.