Mumbai’s first women auto-rickshaw drivers take to the street

The first batch of women auto-drivers started work in Mumbai on Saturday as part of a government scheme aimed at empowering them.

Mumbai: The first batch of women auto-rickshaw drivers on Saturday took their vehicles on roads to begin work in Mumbai after the state government allocated five per cent of the licences to women.

"I used to work as cook, don't have husband, mother-in-law supported me, completed my training in 15 days," said Susheela Mane, an autorickshaw driver in Mumbai.

On January 1, 2017, state Transport Minister Diwakar Raote had said that the government will be re-issuing 60,000 new autorickshaw permits which include 5 per cent quota for women drivers. He said that the opportunity will form a new platform for women to earn their livelihood. He had also said that 97 women had applied for the reservation while the date of form submission was on January 12.

Raote said that the government had publicised the quota in the non-metro areas of the state so that more women could make use of this chance.

He had added that the transport department had undertaken an online lottery to allot the permits He had said that 35,000 new auto permits will be Mumbai and added that there is already 1.05 lakh auto-rickshaw are already operational in the city and 1.6 lakh in Mumbai metropolitan region.

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