MUMBAI: Chaya Mohite slowly turns the accelerator as she carefully edges the salmon-coloured rickshaw forward, one of Mumbai’s first female auto drivers to make use of a government scheme aimed at empowering women.
The 45-year-old was one of 19 women who recently started jobs ferrying passengers through the notoriously congested streets of India’s financial capital in their new three-wheelers.
“This job is much better than doing household work. I can make more money and it helps us secure our futures,” Mohite said as she got in some last minute practice.
The mother of three has spent the past two months learning how to drive at a training centre in Mumbai’s eastern suburbs and is thrilled with her new skills and financial prospects.
“I couldn’t even ride a bicycle but today I can drive an auto rickshaw. I’m independent and it makes me happy,” says Mohite, who hopes to earn INR1,000 ($15) a day.
She is benefitting from a scheme introduced by the state government of Maharashtra, of which Mumbai is the capital, that reserves five percent of rickshaw permits for women.
It announced the plan in early 2016, saying that 465 licences would be made available for women in Mumbai and the neighbouring district of Thane.
Unlike similar schemes in New Delhi and Ranchi, where some pink autos are driven by women for women as a safety initiative, the Maharashtra drivers take both male and female passengers.
Services started in Thane last year but Mohite and her new colleagues, who will sport white lab-coat-like uniforms, are the first to ply the streets of India’s most populated metropolis.
