The Social Justice Department is expediting steps to provide e-autos for free to mothers of children with specific disabilities who hail from financially weak backgrounds.
The scheme has been included in the 100-day plan of the second Pinarayi Vijayan-led Left Democratic Front government.
The initial proposal was to provide free e-rickshaws that cost ₹1.75 lakh each. However, following talks with Kerala Automobiles Limited, it was decided to replace the e-rickshaws that reportedly were not very successful with e-autos that cost more — nearly ₹3 lakh for one vehicle.
Pilot project
The revised proposal has now been given administrative sanction, and ₹84 lakh allowed to provide the e-autos to two women in each district this financial year as a pilot project. An amount of ₹49 lakh had been sanctioned for the scheme last financial year.
Applications will soon be invited from beneficiaries, a number of whom have been identified by local-level committees at the village level.
The scheme is aimed at providing a means of livelihood to mothers of children covered under the National Trust Act. The disabilities under the Act include autism, cerebral palsy, mental retardation, and multiple disabilities.
Conditions
To be eligible, mothers of children with the above conditions should be below 45 years of age, be widowed, divorced, or abandoned, and have no other source of income.
A feasibility study on the project that looks into aspects such as facilities for charging the e-autos and their maintenance in the districts has also been submitted to the government. Depending on the success of the pilot project, the scheme will be expanded to reach out to more beneficiaries.
The department has laid down some conditions for handing over the e-autos. The tax and insurance for the vehicles will have to be borne by the beneficiary. The vehicle must be registered only in the name of the beneficiary and its ownership cannot change hands. It can be rented out, but cannot be sold or pledged as collateral. In case of violation, the vehicle can be seized.
