The women-only cab service that caters to the women staffers of the 181 Helpline at the Delhi Secretariat is facing a five-month backlog in wages with the Delhi Government dragging its feet to pay up dues.
The Delhi-based Sakha Cabs, which is a cab service driven by women for women, has had a long association with the helpline that was set up in late-December 2012 to handle calls from women in distress.
“We have enlisted their service from the inception of the helpline. It has been very reassuring for the women who work here to be transported safely to their homes,” says Human Rights consultant Khadijah Faruqui, who heads the helpline. “Sadly, the Delhi Government has not paid them dues for the last five months. This is unfortunate given that a small NGO runs the cab service,” she added.
Over the last year-and-a-half, two cabs each pick up and drop the staffers every morning and evening to various places such as Uttam Nagar, Ghaziabad and Tughlakabad.
“The helpline has in fact received phone calls from the women drivers of Sakha Cabs who have complained about sexual harassment, obscene calls and cars following the cabs,” said 38-year-old Savita Karna, who is the floor supervisor of the 181 helpline, which has received 700 calls from the cab service.
Ms. Faruqui says that in the last year there have been four incidents of cars following the cabs at night. “This is why we have stressed on the need to have women constables accompany the staffers in the cab. There was a problem for the last few months when we were told by Delhi Police that there was a shortage of women constables and they could not provide us any protection,” she said. “We are not comfortable with male constables accompanying our staffers, who are survivors of violence and come from low-income backgrounds.”
Presently, two women constables from the Sarita Vihar and Ambedkar Nagar police stations accompany the women.
