A fleet of cars round the clock to be driven only by women.
By Rajiv Theodore
THIRUVANTHAPURAM: These could be simply misjudged as baby steps for creating a larger space for women in India’s male dominated society. But the writing on the wall is clear in the tiny state of Kerala which has marched ahead in empowering women: yet again it is going to have a unique launch later this month.
Not that the essential matriarchy of the classical Kerala society has got to do anything with initiatives that are women-driven, literally speaking.
An earlier initiative was largely self-driven, to earn that extra buck for the family, to be independent from the shackles of home and hearth, to carve out a place under the sun. It took place almost 20 years ago when women started driving auto-rickshaws in the Muslim dominated Kozhikode and Malappuram districts. More recently, women got a certain kind of economic independence and a hope for a brighter future with the state government’s flagship program, Kudumbashree, to empower women.
And today, Kerala government awaits another milestone on November 19th: the rolling out of the 24X7, “She Taxi’’, a fleet of cars to be driven only by women. With the motto ‘safe, secure and responsible’, the new mode of taxi service will be launched by ‘Gender Park’, an institution under the Department of Social Justice.
The new service would be launched first at Thiruvananthapuram and would be phased into Kochi and Kozhikode cities later. The fleet of cars would gradually be scaled up to 300 in number.
The initiative has been modeled in such a way that the driver could earn Rs. 20,000 a month, Gender Park CEO, P T M Sunish said. The project aimed at helping women to take initiatives in changing their socio-economic future, would also help address the ever growing threats on the safety and security of women.
Under the program, loans would be arranged after identifying beneficiaries to purchase cars which are planned in the entrepreneurship mode, Sunish says.
“Unlike many other government programs, we are not giving them the vehicles free of cost. Instead, we make them buy the vehicles and loans will be arranged for that through Kerala State Women Development Corporation. It makes them more confident and responsible,” he said.
Safety, Sunish says is the priority of the program, be it for the women drivers as well as the passengers. A strict vigil would be kept on the cars through a high-tech control room. Moreover, the car itself would have unique safety feature like emergency switches for drivers and passengers. There would be GPS facility and mobile phones.
Lalithambika Antharjanam, one of India’s first feminists wrote in the last century, reflecting on the trials of Keralite women against the society’s entrenched barriers: “Never has my heart shuddered harder than when I placed my hand in the gap of that door – that door, which was thought to be impregnable, stronger than an iron fortress…a bit of pride and irrepressible optimism were all that I had…However, what had actually been gained by simply breaking down just this door? How many doors would we have to break down in order to reach that world of security and love that we longed for?”
Today, Kerala has come a long way. It can take pride in its numerous achievements for women, showing a path for the rest of the country to emulate.
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