Coming soon: Pink e-auto scheme for women drivers
Amritsar, August 10
The pink e-autos scheme for women auto drivers will be launched in the city soon and special camps organised for the registration of women drivers. Sandeep Rishi, CEO of Amritsar Smart City Limited (ASCL)-cum-MC Commissioner, announced that the scheme would be launched soon for women auto drivers under Rejuvenation of Auto-Rickshaws in Amritsar through Holistic Intervention (RAAHI) scheme of Smart City.
Under the scheme, the higher rate of subsidy will almost cover the total cost of e-auto. The women auto drivers would get a 90 per cent subsidy to get pink e-autos.
However, MC authorities have identified more than 10 women auto drivers, who are already operating diesel auto rickshaws in the city, but under this pink e-auto project, owning a diesel auto will not be a condition. Any woman willing to operate pink autos can apply for the subsidised e-auto.
“The pink e-auto is a project to create new employment opportunities for women in which they will also be able to cooperate in earning for their family,” said Sandeep Rishi.
Sarbjit Kaur, a woman driver, who is operating betray-equipped e-rickshaw, said, “After my husband got ill, I started running his diesel auto rickshaw in February 2016. Initially, I used to operate it only on Batala Road, but during the Covid-19 pandemic, I explored other city roads. Now, I am operating an e-rickshaw and paying its rent. I had visited the camp, organised by the MC. They informed me about pink e-autos. It will be a landmark project for women empowerment.”
Asha Rani, another auto rickshaw operator, welcomed the MC move. “However, both men and women board my auto, but pink e-autos will be a better option for women drivers and passengers. I don’t feel unsafe while driving an auto-rickshaw, but if some women face problems then pink autos would be an alternative for them.”
Sandeep Rishi said the scheme was being funded by the European Union and AFD and it was being supervised by the National Institute of Urban Affairs and Punjab Municipal Infrastructure Development Company in which the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) was also contributing. The main objective of the project was to make the city’s environment clean and pollution free.
