The town of Dantewada in Chhattisgarh takes its name after
goddess Danteshwari, who is the presiding deity of the Danteshwari Temple
located in the region.
With the same name comes a unique public transport
system, Danteshwari Sewa, which will employ tribal women as ‘e-rickshaw’
drivers.
In one of the worst hit Naxal regions of the country, the
initiative is a first, designed by Dantewada district administration to provide
employment to tribal women from remote villages in the district.
Titled Dantewada Advanced Network of Transport Empowered SHG,
the project has roped in close to 200 self-help groups (SHG) and will introduce
public transport facility of e-rickshaws in the interior parts of the region
and involve women who are members of these groups in the respective areas.
According to District Collector Saurabh Kumar and Zilla
Panchayat chief executive officer Gaurav Singh, the first phase of the project
is all set to be flagged off by chief minister Raman Singh where over 51 e-rickshaws
will be handed over to SHG members. The service is slated for expansion to
other villages in a phased manner.
Being quite cut off, most villagers in the region had to
travel by foot for many kilometres to even reach the main road from where they
could board a bus. With the launch of the service, this toil will be
eliminated.
Costing about 1.70 lakh, 20 per cent of the funding for each
rickshaw will be borne by SHGs while the remaining 80 per cent is to be
supported by District Mineral Fund (DMF). Ten charging stations at different
locations will be installed where these rickshaws can be charged as and when
required.
“The route map is being designed for each vehicle to identify
the locations where e-rickshaw battery charges have to be installed,” explained
Zilla Panchayat CEO.
Reportedly, all the vehicles are to be equipped with first
aid kits and GPS-tracking, and the women operators will be given smartphones
with an SOS button.
Upon hitting the button, police station control rooms closest
in the vicinity will be alerted and can track the vehicles.
Also, the officials have come up with a scheme under which
instances of a pregnant lady hitching the e-rickshaw for a hospital visit will
avail the women drivers the fee that is normally given to Mahtari express
(102 ambulance), who provide free transportation service to pregnant women.
With the goal of empowering the local tribal women with
better livelihoods, the district administration is trying to find every
possibility that can be utilised to increase income for these women.
The women are also quite hopeful that the project will be a
success and function unperturbed by Naxal groups.
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