Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri in a workshop on ‘Participation of Women in Road Safety Awareness’ organised at HIPA today interacted with the ‘women drivers’ and interacted with them. The women also shared their experience with Agnihotri. He said that road safety awareness campaign is being run by the Transport department and said that women today are moving towards self-reliance as there are more than 1 lakh 10 thousand women drivers in Himachal Pradesh which was a matter of pride when it comes to gender equality.
He said that safe roads were fundamental conditions for women and their children to access work, education, health, and social services, including one’s social network of family and friends. Road safety is linked to women’s economic and social empowerment and helps determine the extent of their freedom of choice and movement. The motive of this workshop was to interact with women drivers and improve the system accordingly, said Sh. Agnihotri. Director Transport Anupam Kashyap said that as per the orders of Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri, a road safety awareness campaign is being run by the department.
Women’s participation is also being given an important place in it. He said that women working on every segment were included in this workshop. Kajal Mokta, a resident of Nerva of Chaupal, told that she drives almost all types of vehicles. This includes small vehicles, bicycles and even machines. Mokta says that today women are doing better work in every field, so they should come forward in this field also. Apart from this, Bhavna, who drives a taxi in Shimla, says that she has been driving for the last 16 years.
In this, first she started with a private vehicle, after which she started driving a taxi on a commercial vehicle. Apart from this, other women drivers also shared their experiences on this occasion. During this, these women drivers asked the girls and women of the state to increase their participation and come forward in this field besides join hands with the department to create awareness regarding Road Safety.
