Bhubaneswar, Dec. 8: Five kiosks were inaugurated at various places across the city today to help women commuters avail pink auto service.

The kiosks were set up at Master Canteen Square, Vani Vihar Square, Jaydev Vihar Square, KIIT Square and at the bus terminal in Baramunda.

Cops said these kiosks would be equipped with land phones and integrated with the police control room. Female passengers can dial the landline number to avail prepaid pink auto service,' said a police official. At present, 300 pink autorickshaws are plying in the city.

These kiosks will be managed by the members of autorickshaw associations. 'We have requested the authorities to deploy policemen at these kiosks. We are also planning to install Global Positioning System (GPS) to locate the pink autorickshaws,' said general secretary of Bhubaneswar Autorickshaw Mahasangha,Padman Kumar Samal.

Pink auto service was launched in June with the objective to ensure safety of women, especially college going students.In the first phase, the three-wheelers had started plying from Khandagiri, Baramunda, Vani Vihar, Railway Station, Master Canteen and KIIT Square. The police verify the antecedents of the autorickshaw operators in order to ensure the safety of women passengers. Besides, the operators are also subjected to a psychological test before their inclusion in the service.

'The aim of the kiosks is to provide hassle-free autorickshaw service to women passengers. One can make a call to these kiosks and the autorickshaws will arrive to pick the passenger,' said deputy commissioner of police, Satyabrata Bhoi.

In August, the traffic wing of the police had conducted a survey to ascertain the reasons behind the low response towards this service. The survey had revealed that eachpinkautorickshaw ferry around 35 women on a daily basis and altogether they carry 10,000 women passengers daily. 'We will start an awareness campaign to popularise the service,' said a police official.

Women passengers have expressed their satisfaction over the initiative. 'It is a welcome step, but the authorities should ensure that these kiosks provide service on time. The police should start an awareness campaign to promote Pink Auto Service,' said Manorama Sahu, a resident of Saheed Nagar.