Electric rickshaws driven by women to hit dist lanes soon

Tribune News Service

GS Paul

Amritsar, July 2

Amritsar is all set to introduce women-operated e-rickshaws christened as ‘Pink e-rickshaws’. This initiative will open self-employment avenues exclusively for women.

Pink power

This scheme is reserved for women between the age group of 18-40 years. Preference will be given to women belonging to the low-income group, widows, divorcees and differently abled, who can drive the e-rickshaw. The lithium battery-powered custom-designed e-rickshaw will be pink in colour.

The project has been jointly conceptualised by the local Employment and Trade Bureau in collaboration with Kochchar Infotech, Amritsar.

This scheme is reserved for women between the age group of 18-40 years. Preference will be given to women belonging to the low-income group, widows, divorcees and differently abled, who can drive the e-rickshaw. The lithium battery-powered custom-designed e-rickshaw would be pink in colour, with a matching canopy on its top. Though the rickshaws will be driven by women, the service will be available for everybody. Since it will be pink in colour, women passengers can identify it from a distance and can hire it without feeling insecure. The local police and Regional Transport Office would be roped in for security and training.

The women will also undergo proper training in operating the e-rickshaws and passenger dealing etiquette, before getting a licence by the RTO. The cost of each e-rickshaw is approximately Rs 1.50 lakh. Deputy CEO of the employment bureau Satinder Singh told the initiative would be started shortly. “The most important outcome of the initiative will be economic independence of women,” he said. “Our teams are identifying beneficiaries and around 70 needy women have already consented to be part of the project,” he added.

For the funding of the e-rickshaws, two proposals are under consideration. As per one propasal, the Kochchar firm will buy the e-rickshaws and its instalments will be paid by the administration in the initial stages on behalf of the beneficiary.

As per the other proposal, the e-rickshaws will be bought by the administration directly in the name of the beneficiary without charging a single penny from them. Further, the administration will help her in paying its instalments till the time she starts earing and becomes self-reliant. The ownership will be transferred in the name of beneficiary once she clears its cost.

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