Bhubaneswar, Feb. 21: Two organisations of the city have come together to host a car rally especially for women to celebrate the International Women's Day.
The International Women's Day will be observed on March 8. However, the car rally is scheduled to take place on March 6.
The organisers of the rally - Carnival and Seva Prayas Foundation - have themed the car rally on the "pledge for parity". Around 250 women drivers will take part in the rally, which will start from the KIIT campus and end at the Odisha Special Armed Police's 7th battalion unit in the city.
A maximum of four members would be allowed inside one car and they must be above the age of 18, said an organiser. While one can be nominated as a driver and another a navigator, the remaining two women would also be a part of the team. All participants need to have a driving licence.
"The participant women of each car are advised to wear thematic fancy dress that would distinguish them from other participant groups and make the event more colourful," said Linkan Subudhi, social activist and an organising member of the car rally.
"The registration of the participants will be done online through the official website www.carrally.in and volunteers will be deployed at different malls and schools for offline registration of interested women," Subudhi said.
Eminent women, such as sports icon Anuradha Biswal, national-level karate champion Valena Valentina and television personality Sulagna Routray, were present at the announcement of the event, that was hosted at a city club yesterday. Each of them will take part in the rally and support the participants.
"Women are usually more sensible at the wheels and obey traffic rules pretty well. They are definitely better drivers. More such events should be planned for women drivers," said Valentina.
Social activist and chief adviser of the Seva Prayas Foundation Namrata Chadda said: "This year' s International Women's Day theme - "Pledge for Parity" is a call to accelerate gender parity. We expect the participants to decorate their car and add more colours to the carnival."
"I regularly drive from Bhubaneswar to Cuttack and I enjoy the driving. This car rally is being organised for a cause of gender equality. I am also looking forward to the fun involved in the all-women rally. This means there will be fair following of rules. I will definitely take part," said Routray.
