Woman auto driver offers free rides to govt schoolgirl students in Chennai

CHENNAI: More than 30 years ago, Raji Ashok dropped out of college. Today, the 54-year-old auto driver has made it her life’s mission to ensure other girls do not have to give up their education.Driving around in a pink auto emblazoned with the words ‘Rides free for govt school girl students’, Raji says she has spent more than 15 years ferrying girls free of cost across T Nagar, Kodambakkam, Anna Nagar and Perambur in Chennai.“In 1992, my husband and I eloped from Palakkad to get married, and both of us had to discontinue our college education. I was doing my BA in philosophy. After we left home, it was all about survival,” says Raji.After marriage, the couple got their driver’s licences and came to Chennai. Soon, they began driving autos for a living, often taking their young children along while working. “I kept thinking how our lives would have been better if only we had completed our education,” she says.Raji says she saw school girls face harassment and inappropriate touching while travelling on buses and share autos. She wanted to create a safe way for them to travel so they would not be discouraged from going to school.

“That’s when I decided to start driving the auto for young girls.”Every school day, Raji makes two trips in the morning to drop off students and three in the evening to take them home, helping around 10 to 15 girls daily. Offering the service free means forgoing roughly 500 in earnings each day.Raji says she waits near schools, bus stops and auto stands. “The girls recognise the pink auto immediately and hop in,” she says. Many of the girls she drops, says Raji, get excited to see her and immediately get comfortable. Some even sleep in the auto on their way home. “I keep a stock of biscuits for the kids to eat in case they are hungry,” she adds.