The recent elections saw how much the women vote mattered to all parties, especially the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party which had unleashed over the past years a slew of welfare benefits for them. 

Pink Auto Route To Empowering Women

Now, it needs to move a step ahead and actively increase the proportion of women in the workforce and enable them to be economically empowered and not just the beneficiaries of government largesse. 

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• India has rightly engaged with the promotion of renewables of which electric vehicles (EVs) are a crucial component.
• This is an area which could benefit both the environment and women’s empowerment – India needs to push up the share of women as the mobility service providers which at the moment is just a dismal 0.01%.
• They lack vocational training and lack of ownership of vehicles, both of which have hampered their entry into this sector. 
• Of the 28 states which have electric vehicle (EV) policies, only three – Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Delhi – have initiatives specifically targeting women, and only Delhi has made provisions to include women as drivers, according to information from the ministry of power.
• The launch of 200 pink e-autos with a 90% subsidy in Amritsar was a significant step toward gender-responsive three-wheeler (3W) fleet electrification in India. 
• The project is an initiative driven in part by the USAID-supported Cleaner Air and Better Health (CABH) project which played a key role in addressing the gender disparity in the existing scheme. 
• The original Rejuvenation of Autorickshaws in Amritsar through Holistic Intervention (Raahi) scheme focused on converting diesel autos to electric, but excluded women.
• The CABH project team engaged in discussions with women interested in driving e-autos which led to a memo recommending changes which, in turn, led to the ministry of housing and urban affairs approving pink autos with a more inclusive approach.
• The Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) facilitated the formation of four self-help groups (SHGs) comprising 38 women aiming to drive e-autos. 
• An implementation plan was developed to identify, train, and retain women drivers, emphasising capacity building and community support.
• Till now 30 women have received pink autos and several applications are pending.
• It has been a life-changing experience for the women involved. Amritsar’s first female auto-driver, Sarabhjit Singh, a 38-year-old mother of three children, had to find a way to supplement her monthly income because her husband, who is a diesel auto driver, met with an accident in 2016. 
• Earning just ₹6,500 every month as an embroiderer at a clothing factory was not enough to support her family and in-laws. 
• She learned to drive at night for a week and began driving her husband’s auto. 
• She faced hostility and resistance from people in her community and other male auto drivers, But, she persisted with the support of her family and today, she is a role model for other women.
• With support from CEEW as part of the CABH project, she had the opportunity to acquire a pink e-auto under the Raahi scheme. 
• She is also the president of the first SHG formed in Amritsar under the National Urban Livelihood Mission (NULM) for driving and eauto. She says, “I have been waiting for a pink auto for 1.5 years. 
• Finally, now that it is in hand and accessible to women, we can stand on our own feet, be independent and provide a quality education for our children”.
• Raj, another auto driver in Amritsar, the sole breadwinner for her family, procured the pink auto under Raahi. 
• She still faces resistance from male drivers, but she says, “Now at the end of the day, after driving my pink-auto for just a couple of hours I earn around ₹600, which is significantly more than what I was earning as a house help. 
• Abh khushi ka koi thikana nahin raha (my happiness knows no bounds now)”.
• This initiative could be replicated across India. 
• It will tick several boxes, empowerment of women, getting more women into the labour force, providing a safe mobility option, especially for women, contributing to a cleaner environment and breaking gender stereotypes about what work a woman can or cannot do. 
• You really cannot go wrong with that, can you?

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Conclusion

The Pink Auto initiative in Amritsar empowers women, boosts workforce participation, ensures safer mobility, and promotes a cleaner environment, setting a replicable model for India.