All-women e-auto rally makes it to city
Naseem from Charminar to lead the rally of eight women who arrived in Hyderabad after travelling 1,220 km on electric twowheelers and threewheelers from Kanyakumari and are on their way to Jammu
Amother of three from Charminar, a homemaker until 10 months ago, has taken to plying autorickshaws in the bustling streets of the Old City after being trained by the Moving Women (MOWO) Social Initiative.
Naseem is among the 3,500+ women who have been trained on two and three electric vehicles over the last five years since the inception of the notforprofit organisation.
Now, Naseem will lead a rally of eight women riding electric twowheelers and threewheelers who arrived in Hyderabad after a 1,220kilometre drive from Kanyakumari on their way to Jammu. The 3,333kilometre rally, starting from Kanyakumari via Madurai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Nagpur, Indore, Chennai, and Delhi, will reach Jammu by the end of March.
Moving Women (MOWO) Social Initiative, a Hyderabadbased notforprofit organisation, is conducting a panIndia womenled electric vehicle rally to mark its fifth year of operations. “About 10 months ago, I met the MOWO team in Darrusalam. They were training women to drive two and threewheelers. That was the turning point of my life. I finished training and started driving an electric auto in Charminar between 4 p.m. and 10 p.m. I make about ₹40,000 a month and am able to support my family,” said Naseem. Naseem’s husband is a tutor, and their kids are students. When asked about the societal reaction, she said, “Though I faced criticism from relatives, my life partner’s support was all I needed.” Prabhavati, 36, who is now a seasoned auto driver after driving for over two decades, has trained over 150 women auto drivers over the last 18odd months.
Jai Bharathi leads
“We have already started receiving registrations. We have about 50 women from Karnataka, another 50 from Kurnool, while another 100 will join from Hyderabad,” Jai Bharathi, founder of MOWO Social Initiatives, told The Hindu.
So far, about 10% of the women trained by MOWO are engaged in livelihood avenues. The organisation aims to increase this number this year. About 150 women are working with logistics players like BlueDart, while some have pursued careers as auto drivers. “We want to focus more on livelihood. We will be training these women on electric autos so they can make a living from it,” Ms. Bharathi said.
The organisation also partners with eCommerce and private twowheeler and threewheeler taxi aggregators to help trained women drivers and riders find suitable employment based on their schedules.
MOWO has partnered with ETO Motors, an electric threewheeler maker, for training. It has also partnered with the Small and Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI).
“Through SIDBI, we will ensure that women can own these autos at subsidised prices and also get cheaper loan rates,” Ms Bharathi explained.
Talking about future plans, Ms Bharathi revealed that the organisation is in the process of setting up a subscriptionbased electric two—and threewheeler taxi service.