Former chief minister Nitish Kumar and Assembly Speaker Uday Narayan Chaudhary take a ride in Baby Devi’s e-rickshaw in Bodhgaya on Wednesday. Picture by Suman

Baby Devi, a middle-aged woman of Parhanda village in Bodhgaya, around 10km west of Mahabodhi Mahavihara, is the new face of women empowerment.

Former chief minister Nitish Kumar, too, acknowledged Baby’s effort and took a ride on her e-rickshaw in Bodhgaya on Wednesday before addressing his Sampark Yatra at Gandhi Maidan.

Baby’s endeavour to break into a hitherto male-dominated profession has inspired other women willing to take up e-rickshaw driving. Gaya district magistrate Sanjay Kumar Agarwal has directed district transport officer (DTO) Surendra Jha to select 10 women and make arrangements to impart training to them.

Baby lives in Parhanda village with her mother and four children. She drives the e-rickshaw for not more than six hours a day. She said: “I park the vehicle at Shechen Clinic behind the 80ft Buddha statue in the evening before going home. The clinic has sponsored the e-rickshaw. My husband Arvind is an alcoholic. He used to beat me up when I asked for money to feed the kids. At present, he is in Jamshedpur working as a mason.”

She added: “I am not a matriculate. I decided to work to arrange two square meals for my children and mother. Now, I earn between Rs 250 and Rs 300 daily. Driving an e-rickshaw is easy because there is no problem with the ignition, gear or clutch in the vehicle. The only problem I face is speaking in English. Most visitors in Bodhgaya are English-speaking foreigners.”

Problems notwithstanding, others, too, want to take up the profession. Mustak Miyan of Bhagalpur village in Bodhgaya, who drives an e-rickshaw, said his wife Nazma Khatoon wants to drive the vehicle. “I am ready to help her. I bought the e-rickshaw with my earlier savings. Now, there is no money to purchase another,” Mustak said.

He added: “Even though Nazma would face problems in communicating with foreigners in English, she is interested in joining the profession.”

On Wednesday, Nitish and Assembly Speaker Uday Narayan Chaudhary took a ride on her e-rickshaw from the office of Bodhgaya Temple Management Committee to Tergar monastery, around 2km northwest of the Mahavihara where he met Ogyen Trinley Dorjee — one of the two claimants for the seat of the 17th Karmapa of Kagyue sect Tibetan Buddhists.