Lucknow: In a major step towards enhancing women’s safety and empowerment in Uttar Pradesh, Yogi government has launched another significant initiative. Under the ‘Safe Mobility Program’, an army of women e-rickshaw pilots is being prepared across the state so that girls and women can access safe, convenient, and dignified transportation to schools, workplaces, and other essential destinations.
Under the scheme, 1,000 e-rickshaws are initially being provided to women belonging to self-help groups. The service has already been launched in Ayodhya, Gorakhpur, Varanasi, Kaushambi, and Jhansi, while it will soon begin in Lucknow, Prayagraj, Mirzapur, Bhadohi, Sonbhadra, Deoria, Lakhimpur Kheri, and Sitapur.
This initiative of Yogi government is particularly significant because it is directly linked to women’s safety. In rural areas, e-rickshaw services operated by women drivers are emerging as an effective solution for ensuring safer travel for women and girls.
The program, being implemented under the Uttar Pradesh State Rural Livelihood Mission with technical support from Development Alternatives, has already delivered encouraging results. In five districts, 119 women have been provided e-rickshaws and turned into entrepreneurs. Additionally, 629 women have been trained to operate the vehicles, and 244 women have been issued driving licenses.
Women associated with this initiative are not only driving vehicles but are also becoming the economic backbone of their families. Their average annual income has crossed ₹3 lakh, further strengthening the success of this model.
The impact of ‘Safe Mobility’ is not limited to roads alone. It will make it easier for girls to reach schools, ensure safer travel for working women, create new employment opportunities in villages, and enable women from self-help groups to set new examples of self-reliance.
By simultaneously addressing women’s safety, dignified transportation, and self-employment, this initiative is giving Uttar Pradesh a new identity. As a result, the state is increasingly emerging as a model state for women’s safety, and this new fleet of women e-rickshaw pilots is set to transform the socio-economic landscape of rural areas.
