Odisha witnessing significant rise in women drivers; 33 per cent in five years
Transport department has been providing free professional training to women at government driving training school in Bhubaneswar, and heavy motor vehicle driving training institute in Chhatia.
Published: 08th March 2022 05:44 AM | Last Updated: 08th March 2022 05:44 AM | A+A A-
Image used for representational purpose only. (Photo | Parveen Negi, EPS)
BHUBANESWAR : Odisha has been seeing a significant rise in the number of women drivers across the State. There has been an increase of over 33 per cent women drivers in the last five years, the Commerce and Transport department revealed, on the eve of International Women’s Day, In 2017, 25,086 women received driving licence in the State. The number increased to 33,666 in 2021.
“There has been a rise in the number of women taking to driving over the past few years. However, if we compare with other states, the statistics are still not very encouraging,” said Joint Commissioner Transport (Road Safety), Sanjay Biswal.
“We need to encourage more and more women to come forward and take up driving. They gain confidence by learning to drive and are not dependent on others for their daily commute,” he added. In an attempt to empower women and make them self-reliant, Transport department has been providing free professional training to women at government driving training school (DTS) in Bhubaneswar, and heavy motor vehicle driving training institute (DTI) in Chhatia.
There has been an increase in number of women trainees in both the institutes over the years. The DTS in Bhubaneswar had 25 women trainees during 2016-2017, who have gone up to 90 now. Of them, 60 belong to the Capital Region Urban Transport (CRUT). Similarly, the enrollment of women is steadily increasing at heavy motor vehicle DTI in Chhatia too.
“Around 60 women have been trained in the last three to four years. The institute provides livelihood and job placement support to the trainee drivers. Some of them are placed with private and government agencies after successfully completing the course,” heavy motor vehicle DTI’s principal Sadiq Hussain Syed said.
The institute also has lady trainers who are teaching driving along with soft skills, he added. The HMV DTI is providing 30 days of residential HMV driving training to the people of the State. The institute, spread over 44 acre land, has been operating since 2013. So far, 16, 727 trainees have passed out from the institute.
