Taking a leaf out of Gujarat’s book, the East Delhi Municipal Corporation now plans to introduce an organised fleet of autos like the ‘G-Autos’ that ply on the roads of several cities in Gujarat. The proposal was tabled and approved at Thursday’s Standing Committee meeting and is now pending approval from the House.
By entering into a partnership with ‘G-Auto’, a service provided by a public charitable trust called Nirmal Foundation that is based in Rajkot, the civic body aims to revamp the face of auto-rickshaw travel from an unreliable option to a passenger friendly and pleasant mode of transport. The aim of the initiative is to provide auto-rickshaws at the doorstep round the clock at government notified meter-based fares, ‘Dial an auto-rickshaw service’, and ensure social and financial inclusion of auto drivers. In addition, the auto-rickshaw drivers and vehicles form part of a central database at a call centre– making it easy to track and safe especially for women.
While the entire work of organising the auto drivers, setting up of the call centres and providing services will be carried out by Nirmal Foundation, the EDMC will allocate space for setting up of the call centre, provide 50 per cent concession on the tax levied on the advertisements displayed on the vehicles and will help coordinate with other government agencies including the Delhi Police which will help verify the background of the auto drivers who will be associated with the initiative.
