Kolkata to get women-only chauffeur-on-call service

In view of growing incidences of women traveling alone in taxi cabs being victimized, there is a need to make available some safe traveling options for such women, especially at night. Therefore, the women-only chauffeur-on-call service would be a boon to them.
This has been reported in telegraphindia.com dated 8 January 2016.

The first ever women-only chauffeur-on-call service would be coming to Kolkata soon - it will be introduced by the Azad Foundation.
This is a non-profit organisation that has already launched the service first in Delhi in 2008 and recently in Jaipur and Indore. It has trained around 500 women as drivers and is looking to fill a gap in Calcutta that has become pronounced in recent years. They will provide the launch pad for a regular taxi fleet with women drivers in less than a year.
For a start, nine women aged between 20 and 35 have been trained over a period of six months. They have now become adept at changing a flat tyre as also changing gear. Another batch of nine are being readied to become chauffeurs-on-call by May and, sometime next year, the first batch would be eligible to get commercial driving licenses to work as cabbies.
The first batch of nine chauffeurs is ready to hit the road next month in crisp green uniform with red collars. Incidentally, each of the women has received training in first-aid, basic English, gender sensitisation and Wenlido - this is a self-defense module popular in many parts of the world.

(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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