Seema is first lady driver in Jammu to drive battery auto

JAMMU, Nov 2: A lady driver of newly started battery auto has become talk of the town in Nagrota area near here.
In an interaction with the Excelsior, Seema Devi of Dhok Wazir area of Nagrota said that poverty has forced her to start this venture which is least chosen by the women.“I have three school going children and husband in my family and we borrowed money from someone and brought the auto,” she said, adding that her husband trained her in driving the vehicle in two days after which she started driving the auto.
Seema said as driving is a profession of gents and she is the first lady in her town to join it.
“Seeing me driving an auto many people even laughed at me but I ignored them and continued my work,” she maintained.
The lady driver said: “It is very tough to make both ends meet due to soaring prices of commodities these days but after I started this work and got some earnings, things became easy.”
She claimed full support from her husband and informed that it is very tough at present as children need everything which forced her to work.
“It is fifth month now for me continuing with auto driving and many gents hesitate to sit in my auto as I am a lady. I would like to ask such people that it makes no difference that the auto is driven by a man or woman and same fare will be charged so there should be no problem in sitting in auto driven by a lady,” Seema asserted.
She said that many parents in her Mohalla have engaged her to pick and drop their girl children to their schools in her auto finding it safer with a lady driver.“I daily earn from Rs. 200-500 and I would like to ask the women to come out of their homes and work for empowering themselves,” Seema further said demanding some subsidy from the government on her auto.