Women undergo training to drive autos in Kolkata

Women will now be seen driving autos in Kolkata, breaking the age-old customs.

Belonging to a lower income family, these women are receiving training to drive autos by an auto union leader Gopal, in South Kolkata.

According to a statement by Gopal to a news agency, he stated that till now trained over 60 women.

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"If a woman can be a prime minister, a president, and a speaker, then why can't they drive autos? These women belong to lower income family and we are training them to be independent," he said.

After completion of training, they will start a service called 'Pink', which will exclusively cater to women passengers in the city.

"My husband also drives auto. It is really difficult to manage our lives on an income of one person, so I started driving auto for livelihood," said a woman.

Last year the Maharashtra government had also initiated a scheme where women autorickshaw drivers had hit the roads in Mumbai. The scheme provided a 5% reservation in rickshaw permits for women.

(With ANI inputs)