[dailydriver]

God's Own Country has many remarkable achievements to its credit, the latest being the case of an armless woman being granted a car driving licence.

32-year-old ... Jilumol M Thomas... who was born without hands, had always dreamt of driving a car using her legs but her requests were challenged on technical grounds.

Her relentless efforts of six long years for a driving license finally paid off when Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan himself handed over the document

https://youtu.be/bmd6UHyrwoE?si=rBPLS8D6k596pHYF

The first hurdle was cleared when a driving school at Vaduthala in Ernakulam district agreed to register her as a student. "We were not too confident, but she proved our perceptions wrong by her grit, determination and commitment. Very soon we realised that she will be able to make it," driving school owner Jopan said.

A report highlights the contribution of

Virus Innovations Pvt Ltd, Kochi, which did the desired electronic modifications on her 2018 Maruti Celerio using assistive technology... also the huge support she got from the State Commission for Persons with Disabilities, that she got the directive to the Motor Vehicles department to grant her the sanction for the license.

Inclusiveness and equal opportunity creation is indeed a creditable initiative.

The Kerala MVD (often in the news for all the wrong reasons) needs to be lauded for this.

Having seen a colleague with mobilty issues drive around in his XUV 500 AT and being pretty good at it, I am confident the lady too will prove to be a safe and responsible driver and put to rest any and all misgivings that skeptics may have on her ability to handle a four wheeler on public roads



Ms. Jilumol is a Graphic and Web Designer at Santhisoft Technologies. She is an artist too.