BBMP opens up pink auto scheme to male drivers

With the civic body's pink auto scheme to encourage women to ride autorickshaws becoming a non-starter, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike has opened the programme to men.

A brainchild of Mayor R Sampath Raj, the pink auto scheme involved giving Rs 75,000 subsidy exclusively to women to ride autorickshaws to help them earn a living and to ensure the safety of women commuters in the city.

With not even a single woman coming forward to avail the scheme, the BBMP is taking another tack: opening the scheme to male auto drivers. "We'll, however, include women auto drivers as and when they come forward," said Abdul Rakeeb Zakir, BBMP chairman of the standing committee on social justice and welfare.

Zakir said the BBMP would stick to the original programme by keeping the GPS device and CCTV security cameras so that the pink autos still assure women's safety.

BBMP's assistant revenue officer for the Dasarahalli zone Venkatarayappa said his department had issued a call for women to apply for the scheme much before the elections, yet there are no takers.

Yelahanka, Bommanahalli and West zones have also confirmed that their efforts to encourage women into taking up the scheme did not yield results. In the Bommanahalli zone, officials advertised the scheme twice in newspapers and also distributed brochures.

K G Gurumurthy, assistant revenue officer (welfare), BBMP, Rajarajeshwari Nagar zone, said officials ignored the 110 villages.

Though the project was scheduled to be launched in January, Zakir said it was delayed due to the Assembly elections.

Mayor's initiatives

The mayor assured that including male drivers would not dilute the scheme. "Male drivers will be trained on how to behave with women passengers. Once women drivers begin to enroll, male drivers will be phased out," Raj said, adding that the civic body is planning to launch 2,000 to 3,000 pink autos in the city.

The mayor has also been promoting other initiatives to ensure the city is women-friendly. He proposed women-only parking areas on selected roads and the pink baby scheme, wherein girl children would get benefits in education on New Year's Day. He also provided the 'Pink Hour' for women corporators in the Palike.