john pasapala
Hyderabad
Despite its promising launch in 2015, Telangana’s SHE Taxi initiative aimed at providing a safe taxi service for women by women has crashed leaving women drivers grappling with a lack of demand, outdated systems and limited opportunities.
A recent investigation by ‘The Pioneer’s correspondent revealed that the scheme, conceptualized in the context of a rape case in 2013 in New Delhi, has been reduced to serving the Telangana Department of Women and Child Welfare, while former drivers struggle with unpaid salaries.
The contact number provided on the website is no longer in service, and the alternative of filling out a form to request a cab is cumbersome. Despite multiple attempts over three days, no one answered the phone.
Former SHE Cab drivers confirmed that these taxis no longer cater to the public. Instead, they are now exclusively used as cabs for the Telangana Department of Women and Child Welfare.
Vakiti Gana Lakshmi, one of the remaining SHE Cab drivers said, “Due to lack of public demand, the former commissioner of the Women Welfare Department asked us to exclusively serve the department and assist with officials’ journeys. After the onset of Covid-19, we stopped providing services to the public as there was no demand.
It was a noble gesture by the department to save our jobs, but over time, many drivers dropped out one after another. Until a few months ago, there were four cabs, but three of them were removed and we were told that it was due to budget cuts. Currently, only one other woman and I take turns driving. We haven’t got salaries for three months now.”
But in a recent press release, the Information and Public Relations Department said, “The government has introduced 16 SHE taxis specifically for transporting women. Sixteen women drivers operate these taxis to ensure the safety of women passengers. The SHE taxis are provided by the government with a 35% subsidy.
The Department of Women’s Development and Child Welfare encourages women cab drivers to purchase cabs with a 35% subsidy and 10% margin money as its share. The government has also established a motor driving school for women, spending Rs 49 lakh, which is the first of its kind in the country.”
In a pilot project, former Transport Minister P. Mahender Reddy launched 10 SHE cabs. The cab service was set to expand across Telangana, but the last known launch occurred in 2021 in the Sangareddy constituency.
Another independent woman driver, Dandu Laxmi, said that she was unable to enrol in the scheme.
“The scheme was only limited to newspapers and TV channels. I worked as a driver for a while and tried to use the scheme to get a new vehicle. However, the department never responded to my plea or gave me an appointment,” she said.
Shaik Salauddin, the State President of Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Unions (TGPWU), said that the scheme was misused by many individuals who enrolled their wives to obtain vehicles at a subsidized price and later used them for personal purposes.
When the Commissioner of the Women and Child Welfare Department, was contacted for details, she was not available to respond.The SHE cab service was explicitly designed to provide a safe alternative for women in Hyderabad.
However, some women drivers quit due to technical glitches on the haphazard website, while others found the job inadequate to support their families.Interestingly, there is no consensus on the official name of the scheme, as officials use both ‘SHE Cabs’ and ‘SHE Taxis’.
