Help Women in India Become Professional Drivers

From Transport to Retail – a shift to stay relevant in the changing world of work!

“Be the change you wish to see” – Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

This quote finds deep resonance with the work we do – empowering Ambassadors of Change to be the change they wish to see. Having said this, this journey would not have been possible without YOU.

Last October, we had brought you an update on how Azad, with the support of generous donors like you, was able to provide multifaceted support like: food relief, access to information and support for Government social security schemes, support for survivors of gender-based violence, and sanitation and hygiene facilities to women trainees, chauffeurs, their families, and communities with which Azad works. We also shared how we had expanded to include 2-wheeler trainings so that women could avail of emerging opportunities on the e-commerce platform. This report will delve deeper on how this transition was enabled.

COVID-19 pandemic has deeply affected the transportation and tourism sectors, both of which Azad directly works with. Tourism contributes to 10% of the GDP and 12.5% of job generation in the Indian economy. As many of us would agree, with each challenge comes an opportunity; in this case - the emerging E-commerce expansion and enhanced demand for online orders.

Azad Kolkata was a frontrunner in two-wheeler training, which began with women chauffeurs who had been previously working but had lost their jobs during the lockdown, or those women who were actively seeking a job. In keeping with the Azad ethos of engagement with trainees and their families, detailed discussions were held with the women and their families to ensure that they understood the job profiles, requirements, work-timings and the reason for this sudden shift from four-wheelers to two-wheelers.

The Training Process – learning hands on!

The training commences with twelve such chauffeurs and two women trainers. In order to maintain social distancing, enable trainees to attend trainings closer to their home in the absence of regular public transport post lockdown, trainers visited the house of each trainee to impart technical training whilst ensuring that COVID-19 hygiene and safety compliance was strictly adhered to. In keeping with the transformative, rights-based Skill ++ training that Azad follows, classes included empowerment modules, map- and GPS reading; gender & legal rights; self-development modules like English language and communication skills; these trainings were conducted virtually through small, online group meetings. As the job demanded knowledge and familiarity of English language, special focus was placed on the same thanks to the self-learning mobile application sourced in partnership with Quest Alliance, along with practice sessions using names of delivery items of the targeted e-commerce brands, sample invoices to identify names, and several rounds of mock –interviews with each trainee.

Market Negotiations-an important element in the ‘Big Picture’

In parallel to preparing trainees for the job market, an equal effort was applied to ensure dignified work conditions, along with social security and transportation facilities. While some e-commerce retailers provided electric vehicles, for others, Azad, along with its livelihood partner Sakha, had to ensure that adequate investments were raised to purchase electric two wheelers.

The Impact-

Through this ongoing rigorous process that panned out between August 2020 – Jan 2021, with Kolkata, Delhi has also joined in the efforts to train women on two wheelers and a total of 41 women (28 in Kolkata, 13 Delhi)women have been placed with the retail majors, till now. Currently, 30 more women are still undergoing training as part of this 3-month long training program which is being institutionalized within Women With Wheels. Do view the accompanying video that captures this transition, and voices of our new delivery executives.

Two-Wheeler Training in Kolkata

Big Basket delivery executives with their new E-Scooties