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Forget knitting and stitching, Delhi's women are ready to drive taxis and buses. SVETHA VENKATRAM reports.
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FROM BEING oppressed in a small no-name village to driving a cab in New Delhi. So what's the twist in this story? The cab driver in question is 27-year-old Afroze. A woman. Married. Mother of five children.
Enter Sahbaghi Manch, an NGO based in New Seemapuri that has joined hands with India Sponsor Foundation (ISF) to run the Vahini Shakti Programme for the less privileged women of Delhi. This programme, aiming to put women as drivers of commercial vehicles on the city's roads, has roped in the services of the Institute of Driving and Training Research (IDTR) and the Delhi Police. Eight young women have undergone rigorous training for six weeks; they have been sensitised to safe driving practices, emergency handling techniques and vehicle maintenance. First-aid training enabling them to attend to road mishaps has been imparted to them at Guru Tegh Bahadur Hospital. Further, these young women have gained confidence to brave the roads of Delhi by learning various self-defence tactics.
Behind every successful venture there always lies sweat and numerous hurdles. Bimla, coordinator, Sahbhagi Manch, explains that a neighbourhood survey of underprivileged homes in New Seemapuri, Dilshad Garden and Janakpuri revealed that 50 young women would be interested in undergoing the training. On the first day of camp, the turnout was 30. Numbers dwindled on successive days as the women met with firm opposition from family members. Many families still believe that women should not go out to work, so a woman working, and that too as a cab driver, comes as quite a shock.
Nirmala, 42, protests, "My husband has been driving a goods carrier for the last 10 years and he wouldn't let me drive!" Days of cajoling, coaxing, convincing followed and finally Nirmala, along with seven other women, signed in for the training. Says Ria, 20, "I wouldn't speak to anyone in my house until they agreed!" Priyanka, a confident 19-year-old, says, "I told my family that these days women participate in all walks of life. Driving a taxi seemed like a new, exciting challenge and I wanted to take it up."
For Afroze, cars were scary, fancy objects, best kept away from. "The very first time I got into a car, my hand got caught in the doorjamb and all my bangles broke! I was also badly cut. Now, I know how to drive a car!"
The six-week free training isn't the end of the road though. India Sponsor Foundation has collaborated with Mega Cabs, where the women will work as trainee drivers for three months, starting in May. They will be earning a stipend of Rs.2000.
So, after these three months, will the women like to continue working as drivers? Afroze says she would like to, in fact, she has even made arrangements for her children to be taken care of by their grandmother while she drives. The younger, unmarried Ria points out that after marriage, maybe she will be pressurised to leave her job. "But first I have to work for these three months. At the moment I'm just really happy to be one of the few women to be given such an opportunity."
Lekha Srivastava, Director, ISF, shares that when the subject of empowering women comes up, the focus is on the conventional means of employment and skill building such as tailoring, training as beauticians. However, this doesn't always translate into empowerment. Women are still ill-treated across the city, especially in buses. ISF believes that strong, assertive women drivers, capable of self-defence, will be more sensitive to the needs of their women passengers. Adds Srivastava, "Apart from being personal chauffeurs, these women can also double as the household help. Women will also make more patient and careful drivers for school buses."
The programme aims to bring out its second batch of women drivers in the next two months. "This is going to be an ongoing programme," says Srivastava. "Delhi was a tough city to break in to! We plan to take this initiative to other cities in India as well."
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