Meet Padmashree Harish Who Wants To Put More Women Auto Drivers On Our Roads

Here is an account of another inspiring woman entrepreneur, Padmasree Harish, who has taken an offbeat track to realize her passion – and empower women auto drivers.

Finding a female auto rickshaw driver is in itself surprising to many of us. Imagine how surprising it it is to find a company training women to be auto drivers. I was not just amazed but very inspired to learn about one such venture, a much needed, welcome change to our otherwise conventional society which reserves this profession for men.

Padmasree Harish is the Co-Founder of Easy Auto, a setup which provides training to women who want to drive auto rickshaws for a livelihood. The sole aim behind starting Easy Auto was to provide a safe travel platform for women. It was a success in its first launch in Bihar, and the founders are in the process of setting it up in Bangalore and then taking it to other metros.

As a woman, I feel safety is on the minds of many other women while opting for private transport and what better way to hire an auto than one  run by a woman? This kind of initiative has many advantages to women and society at large, these include:

1. Brings more workforce into existence
2. Provides alternative career options for women
3. Steady income for lower income level families
4. Safe travel, especially for women and children
5. Inspires other women to take up more unconventional roles as their career
6. Reduces crime
7. Creates rights for women to have their say in setting up rules and regulations regarding plying of autos around the city
8. Provides an assured income to their families as the drivers are women who tend to be responsible spenders
9. Encourages even uneducated women to try these kind of careers rather than being restricted to employment as domestic helpers.

We were happy to have Padmashree Harish as part of the last Breaking Barriers event at Bangalore by Women’s Web for women entrepreneurs. I am sure that her story inspired fellow entrepreneurs. Watch this short video!

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