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‘Pink district’ Bahraich woman lands empowerment award
Bahraich's all-women district administration trained 10 women as auto drivers, providing them with pink auto-rickshaws, leading to international recognition.
A novel initiative by the all-women district administration of Bahraich has given royal returns.
The administration got the idea to train women to be auto drivers after a series of public hearings, where women from unfavourable backgrounds, with children to support, were reporting a lack of income opportunities.
In collaboration with the Regional Transport Office (RTO), they decided to train a group of 10 such women on how to drive auto-rickshaws.
Following the training, loans were taken out from the bank, and five of these women were handed over auto-rickshaws in the first phase, on October 2, 2023. Aarti Kashyap, a young mother, received the training and was among the five to receive a pink auto-rickshaw.
District magistrate Monika Rani said, “I call Bahraich the pink district. Besides me, the city magistrate is also a woman, as well as the superintendent of police here at the time, the SDM (Sub-divisional magistrate), the MLA, and the zila panchayat head as well.” She admits that perhaps many of their initiatives are women-focused.
“We also observed that although a majority of auto passengers are women, most drivers are male. Our intention is to dispatch pink autos to higher educational institutions where young women students can access them,” Rani said.
The Bahraich chapter of the Aga Khan Foundation – of which Aarti is a member – then proposed her name to the Amal Clooney Foundation.
Aarti was conferred the second Amal Clooney Women’s Empowerment Award, at the annual Prince’s Trust Awards held in London, recently. She was one among these newly self-employed women from Bahraich to get the award, which recognises young women from across the world, who succeed against odds to make an impact on society.
Kashyap was nominated by the Aga Khan Foundation and travelled to London to receive the award. There, she had the opportunity to meet King Charles III at Buckingham Palace. What’s more, she rolled up to receive her award in her pink auto-rickshaw.
Kashyap returns home tomorrow, Royal award in hand and the DM of Bahraich speaks of the ‘pink district’ that paved the way for the win.
City magistrate, Shalini Prabhakar said that this drivers’ training initiative is going to be further advertised in other rural parts of Bahraich, given the appreciation it is receiving and the success it has had in only a few short months.
