The State government will soon develop an emergency alert system to ensure the safety of both passengers and drivers of taxis operated by women under the Kudumbasree Travels, Minister for Social Justice M.K. Muneer has said.
Speaking after flagging off a fleet of six taxi cars rolled out by the Kudumbasree Mission in Kochi on Monday, Mr. Muneer said the new system was envisaged to send out an SOS alert with location to predefined emergency contacts or to the police control room. “The government is committed to ensuring the safety of women at their workplace and the installation of the system in the taxi cabs is an attempt towards achieving the objective,” he said.
The Minister also inaugurated the women construction units by Kudumbasree and said the initiative had emerged as a force in bringing about useful societal changes.
Kudumbasree executive director K.B. Valsalakumari said the drivers for the cab were selected through interview and given proper training. The cars were bought with a subsidy of Rs.50,000 provided by the Kudumbasree Mission along with a bank loan.
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The taxi cabs, operated with Tata Indica cars, have features like GPS/GPRS systems for safety purposes, in addition to fair meters.
The cars may be booked by a making a call to the number 8281771212 and the service will be on from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. The service will be available for women passengers and men accompanying them.