Delhi Government Introduces Programme to Support Aspiring Female Professional Drivers

By: WE Staff | Tuesday, 19 July 2022

According to an official release, the Delhi government unveiled a programme to offer financial assistance to women who wish to enrol in driver training in order to eventually work as professional cab drivers.

According to a resolution taken by the Delhi government, the Transport Department would pay 50% of each woman's training expenses, or roughly Rs 4,800.

The government has established internal driving training facilities for women at Burari, Loni, and Sarai Kale Khan.

According to the proposal, the government would ask fleet managers and aggregators to cover the remaining 50% of the training expenses for women looking for driving jobs at these businesses.

“It will work with fleet owners and aggregators to set up an optimal mechanism so that women trained through the initiative receive guaranteed jobs in these companies after completion of the training,” read the statement.

The Transport Department will shortly publish an advertisement or public notice asking fleet owners or aggregators for Expressions of Interest (EoI) for the programme in order to determine how many women can be trained through such an effort.

The programme aims to give women job options in the field of public transportation.

“Various women through different forums have come out and spoken about their interest and zeal to work as taxi drivers to earn their livelihood,” it added.

Delhi has also made quick strides toward the adoption of electric vehicles under its aggressive Electric Vehicle Policy 2020.

The Delhi Motor Vehicle Aggregator Scheme, which requires phased adoption and increases in the share of electric vehicles within the fleet of taxi aggregators, is also being implemented by the Delhi Government.

“The increase in the share of electric vehicles in taxi fleets will enhance opportunities for women to be employed as drivers as, due to fewer mechanical parts and automatic steering wheels, electric vehicles are much easier to drive and less strenuous in operation,” it said.

The Delhi Government had loosened the rules and requirements in order to hire more women as bus drivers.

For female applicants, it lowered the minimum height requirement from 159 cm to 153 cm and the required amount of experience from six months to one month.

The move improved employment options for women in the approximately 7300-bus combined fleet of the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) and the Delhi Integrated Multi-modal Transit System.Additionally, the decision made it possible for women to join the 15,000 bus drivers employed by the state's public transportation system.

In April, the Society for Driving Training Institute (SDTI), Burari, launched "Mission Parivartan," a campaign to train women to get their Heavy Motor Vehicle (HMV) permits.

Gahlot said in a statement, ”In the last couple of months we have implemented multiple initiatives to increase participation of women in the transportation workforce. The objective is that women come forward and become an important anchor of Delhi’s public transportation.”

“We have now inducted women as bus drivers within DTC. With the implementation of this initiative, the day is not far when a large number of women would be visible as drivers for various public modes of transportation on Delhi’s roads,” he said.