Bongaigaon: Pink will be the new black on the streets here from Wednesday.
Pink auto-rickshaws, driven by women, for women passengers, will ply on the streets to provide a source of livelihood and to cater to their safety.
After a woman member of a self-help group narrowly escaped abduction while travelling in an auto-rickshaw in Bongaigaon town last year, a social worker, Kusumbar Choudhury, thought of introducing special auto-rickshaws for women passengers. Choudhury works as the city project manager of the National Urban Livelihood Mission (NULM) here.
An auto-rickshaw driver and his companion had attempted to abduct the woman who was returning home in the auto on March 29 evening last year. Women will run these auto-rickshaws and carry only female passengers and kids, Choudhury said.
The Bongaigaon Municipality will launch this special scheme under the mission here on Wednesday, introducing 13 pink auto-rickshaws.
Thirteen women have been trained to drive these auto-rickshaws.
Saraswati Sahu, 34, a widow, who had worked as an assistant in a beauty parlour in the town, said it had been hard for her to support her family with a meagre monthly income of Rs 2,500. Her only daughter studies in Class X in Kendriya Vidyalaya here. "Now I am confident of supporting my family with the earnings I get from the auto-rickshaw," she said.
Mona Das, 32, a mother of two, worked as a domestic help. She had to take shelter beside the residence of her elder sister after her husband turned alcoholic and lost his job. She said she chose to drive the auto-rickshaw to "for self-dignity and to support her children".
Bongaigaon Refinery authorities will finance 10 of these 13 auto-rickshaws. The mission will provide for the rest with a bank loan, Choudhury added. "I had encouraged these women to take up this new occupation that will ensure safe travel in auto-rickshaws to women," said Manju Devi, 23, a community organiser of the mission.