She Autos face licence hurdle

She Autos, a project taken up on a pilot basis under the Mission for Elimination of Poverty in Municipal Areas (MEPMA) for empowerment of women in the age group of 18 to 40, has faced a major hurdle through its initial stages.

The Urban Community Development wing of the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) selected 120 Self-Help Group women. The People’s Welfare Society, in collaboration with Garapati Kanumilli Charities, imparted free training in auto driving for to the selected women for 45 days spending more than Rs 2 lakh. The first batch of women auto drivers completed their training successfully in May.

MEPMA which promised to get driving licences issued to the women beneficiaries by the RTA and arrange bank loans to them to purchase autos, had already reached an agreement with market leaders, Tata Motors and Bajaj Auto Limited for the manufacture of She Autos as per its modified specifications.

But it failed to anticipate that the pilot project would face a major hurdle in the form of driving licences. When some women beneficiaries approached banks seeking sanction of loans, they were asked to furnish their driving licences as surety. The fact that majority of the women beneficiaries do not have the minimum educational qualification required to get a driving licence from the RTA came to light at this stage of the pilot project.

Speaking to The Hans India, Deputy Transport Commissioner S Venkateswara Rao said: ``The minimum educational qualification required to get a driving licence is 8th class as per the Motor Vehicles Act. The guidelines prescribed for issue of driving licences cannot be relaxed even in special cases as the RTA was directed by the Supreme Court to strictly abide by the norms to promote road safety.''

When contacted, VMC Urban Community Development in-charge Project Officer Vijaya Lakshmi said they appealed to the RTA to issue badge numbers to the women beneficiaries considering the project as a special case to enable them to ply autos in the city.

The RTA officials had expressed their helplessness in this regard as a minimum one year experience in public transport sector was needed for it. The issue would be discussed with MEPMA officials to overcome the hurdle to introduce She Autos in the city under the pilot project, she said.

By Sistla Dakshina Murthy