Sunday Times 2
Indian government wants more women in auto driver’s seat
View(s):By Neha Pushkarna
Delhi may soon have more women autorickshaw drivers as the state government’s transport department exerts itself to bring them on board.
The department has decided to provide free training to women to drive autorickshaws, with the aim of making them employable and also making city roads safer.
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit in an autorickshaw driven by the Capital’s only woman driver, Sunita Chaudhary
Applications were invited from women and SC/ST candidates earlier this month for training at two driving schools in the city.
According to government officials, women who have a valid license and a public service vehicle certificate will be given priority when permits are issued for driving auto-rickshaws.
Though it’s going to be a slow process, the government is hopeful that more women will come out to work as drivers in the coming months.
“We want that more women should come ahead and learn to drive autorickshaws. We are providing them free training. They will only have to pay around Rs 50 as fee. Rest of the cost will be borne by the transport department,” state transport minister Ramakant Goswami said.
He added that the training was being conducted by NDMC as well as Maruti’s Institute of Driving and Traffic Research (IDTR) at Sarai Kale Khan and Wazirabad.
However, the response from women has been low so far. Delhi’s first and probably only woman autorickshaw driver, Sunita Chaudhary, said it was essential to identify women who need such training and will commit to driving a public transport.
“I had myself trained a few women to drive autorickshaws as part of a scheme a few years ago. I don’t think they ever ended up driving commercially. However, it’s a good initiative as it will make needy women independent and employable as well as well make it easier for women passengers to commute,” she said.
© Daily Mail, London
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