Ten years ago, Anil Shetty came to the city from Kundapura taluk in Udupi district to pursue his engineering degree. Like most people in the city, he witnessed a number of problems – from grumpy autorickshaw drivers to overworked policemen, who are not always in the best of mood. But unlike others who endlessly complained about this, Mr. Shetty decided to do something about it.
He dropped out of college to become an entrepreneur. Two years ago, he started the ‘Peace Auto’ initiative in an attempt to improve the quality of public transport system in Bengaluru and the quality of life of autorickshaw drivers.
What started as a small experiment in his neighbourhood soon became one of the most important campaigns in the city.
Today, around 500 Peace Auto drivers ferry around 8,000 people on a daily basis. A Peace Auto driver is one who doesn’t refuse to ply or charge excess fare. Over the past few months, many autorickshaw drivers have been appreciated for returning expensive items left behind by passengers.
So what keeps the smile on the drivers’ faces?
Mr. Shetty and his friends have pooled in a rotating corpus to enable autorickshaw drivers to borrow money at zero per cent interest. That apart, the drivers are recognised and events such as Auto Day are celebrated. These small measures boost their morale, he said.
“After interacting with many autorickshaw drivers, I realised that their living conditions were miserable and they have no social security. We cannot keep complaining about their services. Autorickshaw drivers are crucial… making their lives better will automatically trickle down to making citizens’ lives better,” he said.
Mr. Shetty has now turned towards unsung heroes at traffic signals. He is gives away awards to the best traffic constables chosen by the public. At a recent event, he distributed scholarships to the daughters of bus drivers and conductors.
Thrilled by the success of these endeavours, Mr. Shetty wants to start a union for taxi drivers in the city along the lines of Peace Auto. He has started mentoring youth groups to help them participate in the democratic processes.
