Meet Mumbai's first women rickshaw drivers

Yahoo – AFP, Vishal MANVE, April 13, 2017

Authorities in Maharashtra State, of which Mumbai is the capital, has launched
 a scheme ensuring five percent of rickshaw permits go to women (AFP Photo/
PUNIT PARANJPE)

Mumbai (AFP) - Chaya Mohite slowly turns the accelerator as she carefully edges the salmon-coloured rickshaw forward, one of Mumbai's first female auto drivers to make use of a government scheme aimed at empowering women.

The 45-year-old was one of 19 women who recently started jobs ferrying passengers through the notoriously congested streets of India's financial capital in their new three-wheelers.

"This job is much better than doing household work. I can make more money and it helps us secure our futures," Mohite told AFP as she got in some last minute practice.

The mother of three has spent the past two months learning how to drive at a training centre in Mumbai's eastern suburbs and is thrilled with her new skills and financial prospects.

"I couldn't even ride a bicycle but today I can drive an auto rickshaw. I'm independent and it makes me happy," says Mohite, who hopes to earn 1,000 rupees ($15) a day.

Female drivers receive different colour rickshaws to the traditional black and 

yellow ones, to discourage male relatives from taking them. (AFP Photo/

PUNIT PARANJPE)

She is benefitting from a scheme introduced by the state government of Maharashtra, of which Mumbai is the capital, that reserves five percent of rickshaw permits for women.

It announced the plan in early 2016, saying that 465 licences would be made available for women in Mumbai and the neighbouring district of Thane.

Unlike similar schemes in New Delhi and Ranchi, where some pink autos are driven by women for women as a safety initiative, the Maharashtra drivers take both male and female passengers.

'Ready to drive anywhere'

Services started in Thane last year but Mohite and her new colleagues, who will sport white lab-coat-like uniforms, are the first to ply the streets of India's most populated metropolis.

"I've taught them the A to Z of auto-rickshaw driving. They are now experts and have passed an official RTO (Regional Transport Office) test," Sudhir Dhoipode, the women's instructor, told AFP.

Dhoipode says he is currently teaching more than 40 women how to drive while around 500 others have expressed an interest in learning despite some community opposition in the conservative country.

"I couldn't even ride a bicycle but today I can drive an auto rickshaw. I'm 

independent and it makes me happy," one female driver says after taking part in

 a scheme to encourage more women taxi drivers in Mumbai (AFP Photo/

PUNIT PARANJPE)

"People mocked us for leaving our homes and choosing to drive rickshaws but we hope we can inspire other women to come forward and take advantage of this great initiative," said driver Anita Kardak.

Rickshaw permits are highly sought after in Mumbai and can be big business, with owners often renting them out for a fee or lending them to others when their shift has finished.

Transport officials say they decided the women should have a different coloured rickshaw to the ubiquitous black and yellow ones to stop male relatives from taking them over.

It has led to some fears the women will be at risk because they will stand out, but Mohite isn't concerned.

"I don't think there's going to be any safety issue as we're capable of looking after ourselves. Driving the rickshaw is a fun feeling and I'm ready to drive anywhere in Mumbai," she said.

Mumbai's first female auto rickshaw drivers take to the streets - part of a govt scheme aimed at empowering women https://t.co/0dQMc7Kha5 pic.twitter.com/YLisrQreXH

— AFP news agency (@AFP) April 13, 2017

Jakarta Temperature Drops in Line With Freezing Australia

Jakarta Globe, SP/Ari Supriyanti Rikin & Arientha Primanita, Jul 15, 2014

Bemos make their way past an overpass on Monday, July 14, as cold southerly
winds sent temperatures down into the low 20s. (Antara Photo/Vitalis Yogi Trisna)

Jakarta. Extraordinarily cold weather across parts of Indonesia and Australia over the last week could be repeated if southerly winds from Antarctica were to return, the Indonesian meteorology agency said on Tuesday.

The temperature dropped four to eight degrees Celsius from the July average over the weekend, according to the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG).

BMKG head Edvid Aldrian said that the temperature dropped as much as eight degrees in Serang, Banten province.

“As late as Monday morning the temperature in Curug was at 23 degrees Celsius while Jakarta recorded 25 degrees on Monday evening,” he said on Monday.

Edvin said that Indonesia’s colder-than-usual temperatures were commensurate with the record-breaking lows felt across parts of Australia, with chilly southerly winds sending temperatures in Brisbane below freezing. July 11 was the coldest day in the Queensland state capital for 103 years.

Indonesia has seen an unusually late start to its dry season, with meteorology chiefs agreeing that the rainy season had lagged well into July.

“There is a small chance that such cold weather will happen again. It was because on Sunday there was low pressure in the Sunda Strait which caused more clouds at the western part of Indonesia, especially West Java and South Sumatra,” he told the Jakarta Globe on Tuesday.

Edvin said that Greater Jakarta was only now beginning to see the start of the dry season, but added that isolated showers were still a possibility. He said that the rainy season will start again around September.

City Council Vows to Rid Jakarta of 3-Wheel Bemo

Jakarta Globe, Arientha Primanita & Ulma Haryanto, February 11, 2010

A line of bemo await passengers in Central Jakarta. (JG Photo)

The days of the pollution-belching, three-wheeled bemo may finally be numbered, the Jakarta city administration said on Wednesday.

“We hope by 2011 there will be no bemo on the streets of Jakarta,” said Riza Hasyim, deputy head of the Jakarta Transportation Agency.

Riza said that according to a 1996 gubernatorial decree the bemo were illegal.

Bemo are a fixture of the Jakarta cityscape. The unique vehicles seat four to five people relatively comfortably, but often hold as many as nine passengers.

Riaza said Jakarta Police and Public Order Agency officers would begin impounding the vehicles and destroying them after a warning period had expired.

Aliman Aat, a city councilor from Commission B, which oversees economic affairs, said the council supported the plan.

“The bemo do not have permits to operate in Jakarta so they are illegal,” he said, adding that the city council will allocate the required funds in its revised budget.

Aliman said the bemo, which now operate primarily in and around Bendungan Hilir (Benhil), Tanah Abang and Karet in South Jakarta, were bad for the environment and traffic congestion.

He said efforts to remove the vehicles from the city’s streets had begun in 1996 with the freezing of operating permits for 1,096 bemo.

Taufik, another city councilor, said the administration had been unable to rid the city of bemo because the vehicles were often operated by street thugs known as preman.

Bemo drivers spoken to by the Jakarta Globe on Wednesday, however, said they believed the local government’s decision was unfair.

“They never explained to us why we are illegal. Is it because of environmental concerns? Are the vehicles ugly? Tell us what is wrong with the bemo and we can fix it,” said Mia, from the City’s Poor People Network (JKRM).

Samsul, one of about 100 bemo drivers in Benhil, said he had been a bemo driver for 15 years after moving from Indramayu, West Java, to find a better life in Jakarta.

Although he was aware of the government plan to eradicate all bemo, he said he was illiterate and had nowhere else to go. He said despite the 1996 ban, a number of new drivers had recently begun working as bemo operators.

“I learned how to drive a bemo from my uncle who brought me to Jakarta,” he said. “He has returned to Indramayu because of illness.”

Samsul said he earned Rp 30,000 ($3.20) each day after covering the cost of renting the vehicle and buying gasoline. He said it was tough to make a living to support his unemployed wife and two children. “But there are other drivers with more mouths to feed,” he added.

Muhammad Yusuf, 16, lives in Pejompongan and uses bemo. However, he admitted that bemo is not the only means of transport that he rely on.

“I can travel with bemo, angkot, anything nowadays, so I would not be too upset if one day bemo are not operating anymore” he said.

According to the Jakarta Bemo Driver Community (PBJ), there are around 1,000 active bemo in the capital, with one bemo usually shared between two drivers.