It was around 2 a.m. on Tuesday when Jaicy Ramesh reached the Akkulam tollbooth on her way back home from Pathanamthitta. One of the first drivers to become part of the ‘shetaxi’ initiative, she had attended a late-night call to drop two passengers from the city.
As she approached the tollbooth, she noticed a gathering, including police officers. They hailed her to stop and she did, cautiously rolling down the window glass.
As she got closer, she noticed that people had gathered around a person lying on the road — a hit-and-run case, the police told her, and asked if she could take the injured toll collector to the medical college hospital. “I hesitated at first and told them that we normally drive only women or families. But nobody knew how badly he was injured and the police said they would come along,” she said.
The injured man was laid on the back seat, and she drove him, and two others, to the MCH. Once he was admitted to casualty, she left, charging no fee. During the course of this incident, two calls came from the control room of ‘shetaxi,’ making sure that Jaicy was safe, tracking her car’s every move and halt.
Feeling safeThis is among the many episodes of her eight-month tenure as a member of the ‘shetaxi’ fleet in the city. The stint has bolstered her confidence, helping her ignore jibes, even from her family, about her designation. “Distance or time does not matter to us. I have never felt unsafe in the car,” she said.
The pink-streaked car has come to the rescue of stranded commuters more than once and their reputation for safety is widely accepted. Police stations often contact this service when they come across families, couples, or women who need help.
The 20 cars of the Thiruvananthapuram fleet have travelled over four lakh kilometres, with their business crossing Rs.40 lakh.
New facilitiesThe initiative is being operated by Gender Park under the Social Justice Department. Rain Concert Technologies is responsible for fleet management and security services. Rain Concert CEO R. Abhilash said more facilities would be added over the next few weeks, including hooters on top of the vehicle which can mobilise support from nearby in case of emergencies. Credit card and SMS payments in association with Federal Bank would be added as well.
