While ensuring a secure way of transport for women in the city and
offering a means of employment to another set of women at the same time,
the City Corporation is gearing up to roll out its project of training
women in autorickshaw driving and buying them the vehicles.

The
budget announcement of the current fiscal, ‘Snehasanchari’, is envisaged
as a project that can train 100 women and buy them autorickshaws. In a
month-and-a-half, the civic body will initiate steps to find eligible
beneficiaries for training.

“The project will be realised by
joining hands with Kudumbashree. The plan is to identify women, members
of Ayalkoottam, who hold driving licence and train them in autorickshaw
driving. Women with a lower income are preferred,” said welfare standing
committee chairman Palayam Rajan. An estimate of Rs 50 lakh has been
prepared and a detailed plan will be chalked out by the civic body
before the kick-off.

Women with a low income from the four
Community Development Societies (CDS) will be selected to be trained and
more guidelines will be spelt out in the detailed plan. Meanwhile, for
buying the autorickshaws, a subsidy given by the City Corporation and
beneficiary share by arranging bank loan will be pooled in.

“There
are so many women in the CDS units, who have taken driving licence and
cannot utilise their skills as a means of employment as they do not have
the money to buy a vehicle. If the project comes about, it would be of
great help to them,” said Vijayakumari S, chairperson of the
Kudappanakkunnu CDS.

In the previous financial year, though a
similar project was included, it failed to take off. Called ‘Sarathy’,
it was aimed at training women in driving autorickshaws and for setting
up an exclusive stand for the women-driven autorickshaws.