Mumbai: Pink stripes spook auto permit aspirants

Mumbai: Only half of the women who had applied for 500 auto-rickshaw permits under a reservation scheme have come forward to collect them in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Thane.  

According to officials, this is because the vehicles will have orange and pink stripes to identify women permit holders, and many women had allegedly applied for permits for their male relatives. The state, in January, had reserved 1,369 auto permits for women.

According to figures from the city’s RTOs, Thane has seen the highest number of applicants collecting their permits (97) while Kalyan and Navi Mumbai have issued 65 and 54 women-only permits respectively. Wadala has issued 14 permits in the eastern suburbs, while Borivali and Andheri haven’t seen even a single applicant come forward to collect their permits.

An RTO official said, “Initially a lot of women were enthusiastic, but as soon as the government said that the vehicles would have orange and pink stripes, the men realised that they could be easily spotted sitting in these rickshaws and could be taken to task by the traffic police as well as RTO squads who conduct their own checks.”

Stating that he didn’t know if the stripes were the reason behind the tepid response to the scheme, transport commissioner Praveen Gedam said, “We do hope more women utilise the scheme.”