Amritsar: Women pink auto drivers complain of harassment, demand separate stands

Neha Saini

Amritsar, June 21

The ambitious Rejuvenation of Auto-rickshaw in Amritsar through Holistic Intervention (RAAHI) project under the Smart City initiative that aimed to allot pink autos to women drivers as a push towards their empowerment, seems to have struck a hurdle.

The initiative to give equal opportunity to earn a livelihood to women has now turned into reason for their harassment. Several women operating pink autos have complained of harassment and said they are not being allowed to pick up passengers from heavy rush areas like bus stand and Heritage Street.

“When we park our autos to get some passengers, we are chased away or verbally abused by the male auto drivers. They call us names and insult us, saying things like ‘you are not allowed to park here, don’t come here’. We face this every day,” shared Asha Rani, a 40-year-old pink auto driver. Like Asha Rani, several others like Laxmi, who suffers from minor physical disability, also said that they are not allowed to ferry passengers from busy areas as the male auto drivers have created a ‘monopoly’. “We also want to earn a living and it’s a hard task to drive around the city, facing odd remarks. What good will this effort be when we are being harassed just because of our gender,” she said.

Fourteen women are currently driving pink autos in the city and the government has been offering a 90 per cent subsidy to encourage more women drivers. According to officials at RAAHI office, this 90 per cent subsidy will be given to women only on the first 200 pink autos. But the women drivers now say that if the harassment continues, then very few women will be encouraged to apply. “This daily pestering will definitely demotivate women, only the ones who have guts will continue,” said Rajwinder Kaur, 46, who has applied for a pink auto. Rajwinder Kaur is a former school teacher and feels that besides livelihood, the officials need to also ensure that safety of women is not compromised. “Many women are coming forward and applying for pink autos as they are excited by the prospects of financial freedom. But harassment by police for money and male auto drivers for passengers will affect their enthusiasm.”

The 14 pink auto drivers have met MC Commissioner Harpreet Singh and requested him to set up separate pink auto stands to counter this harassment. While the MC is yet to assign any space, they have asked for help from some voluntary organisations to create these stands.