[sarathlal]

Kerala State Social Welfare Department’s ‘She-taxi’ service will be rolled out in the capital city, Trivandrum, this month.

Staffed solely by women, the 24-hour service offered by the government’s ‘Gender Park’ initiative seeks to offer a safe transport alternative for women on the move.

Twenty-five cars — white, streaked with pink — will be launched in Thiruvananthapuram by mid-November in the pilot phase.
While guaranteeing safe transport is the priority, ‘Gender Park’ also seeks to promote women entrepreneurs capable of managing the service.
‘Gender Park’ officials are currently selecting beneficiaries who will be given a vehicle on loan at an 8 per cent interest rate over a repayment period of six years. The Kerala State Women Development Corporation (KSWDC) is in charge of extending financial support to women who want to become part of this fleet.

Source & Full Article

[MaxTorque]

Good move indeed. If I am not wrong, this is the first service which Government has taken lead to implement. Hope it will work well.

[rajeev k]

It is going to be on the roads from today at Thiruvananthapuram as per press reports.

[B747]

Good move, esp considering that it is Govt supported. But just wondering about the security of drivers itself esp when returning back after dropping the customer.

[phamilyman]

This is exactly why government should stay away from such harebrained schemes! (reminds me of the pink tarp autos that were launched "only for women" in Gurgaon - its now mostly defunct!).

Instead of investing money in a service that most governments don't have the faintests clue or competence in running, they should ensure that the existing fleet remains safe (which is what people REALLY want) - that happens through stringent policing.

They should just bring over most of the Chennai police staff if they want a quick fix. Chennai (and TN in general) is a shining example of how a government can make the streets truly safe for its women in a no-nonsense approach (but it is not media/ press conference friendly - its the plain old hard work formula!).

[sarathlal]

The service is now officially launched.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UczwsCgZ35w

Read more at : http://ibnlive.in.com/news/she-taxi-...47-62-126.html

[rajeev k]

Close on the heels of the subject she-taxi scheme, another initiative is getting launched today, a Nano based women's taxi scheme by Kudumbasree*. The scheme kick-starts with seven nano Taxis.

* Launched by the Government of Kerala in 1998 for wiping out absolute poverty from the State through concerted community action under the leadership of Local Self Governments, Kudumbashree is today one of the largest women-empowering projects in the country. The programme has 37 lakh members and covers more than 50% of the households in Kerala. Built around three critical components, micro credit, entrepreneurship and empowerment, the Kudumbashree initiative has today succeeded in addressing the basic needs of the less privileged women, thus providing them a more dignified life and a better future. Literal meaning of Kudumbashree is prosperity (shree) of family (Kudumbam).

Picture courtesy: The Malayalam daily Malayala Manorama.

[Joe M]

Since the number of cars is not much, they should be able to run the service with ladies alone. Otherwise it might be difficult.

Another fact is that during day time 6am to 6 pm even normal taxies are also somewhat safe for women. But for ladies travelling alone this surely is going to be a real boon.

If they don't allow men in the car without bringing an old lady with them( as mentioned in the news clip), it could reduce the demand a bit. Allowing couples might help.

But fixing a grill between two rows of seats is going to affect the feel of the taxi.

[zenren]

Originally Posted by Joe M

But fixing a grill between two rows of seats is going to affect the feel of the taxi.

While I do agree that the grill will protect the driver but is it safe for the passengers to have a grill in front of them? Will it be a safety hazard for the passengers in case of sudden brakes?

[absynthguzzler]

We conducted a study on the same in 2009-10 and many a Corporate also came forward to utilizing the services of a women only taxi facility.

Transport Authority rules specifies that in order to qualify for a Taxi DL, the person must have a normal DL for minimum 1 year.

. The model was based on rehabilitation of women from the lower class (also including those from red-light districts ) However, the major hurdle was finding sustenance for the 12 months after the driving and other etiquette training was given. There was just no way to tackle this without substantial monetary support from non-profit agencies. But , once the non-profits kicked in, it wasn't ethical for us to show a profitable running business plan - they didn't want to be associated with it.

. We contacted certain states for an amendment in rules for lady drivers and to conduct a test on their preparedness rather than making them wait for 12 months and automatically qualifying . State RTO's would deny an amendment of the rule stating its a "National Level" Policy matter. In other words , we needed "Push and Pull" to succeed.

There are of-course some Service operators who have broken/ignored the rule, but what concluded finally was that scalability was going to be an issue.

I guess , in Today's environment considering women and girl's safety, things just might change for the better and Govt may just be all ears for such initiatives.

[sarathlal]

The service will now be available at Ernakulam from May 19th onwards.