Last week was truly memorable. I realised how much all of you really care about my petition and the cause I am fighting for: the safety of women who travel, and women’s empowerment in the field of commercial driving. I realised this when over 200 people tweeted to Ola Cabs requesting it to equip 200 women in Mumbai with driving skills and most importantly safety training in Mumbai by Women’s Day 2020.

So I’d like to begin by thanking each one of you who tweeted to Ola Cabs for taking the time out of your busy schedules to believing in this cause and taking action. I believe in this campaign. I believe that your support will lead us to victory. I believe that the people at Ola Cabs will deliver what we are asking for.

Not only do I appreciate your taking action on Twitter, I also value your comments and suggestions. A few of you have written in the comments section of my petition that in that safety of the women drivers is as important as training and hiring. I whole-heartedly agree. Ola Cabs should equip all drivers, particularly women drivers with the necessary self-defense and safety training.

One particular incident has fuelled my hopes of Ola Cabs for this campaign. Recently their helpline responded to a distressed woman passenger in Bangalore in a prompt, timely manner. The woman had narrated her experience on social media about how it is challenging for a woman to board a cab late at night. When the driver diverted from the usual route, she panicked like many of us would. But to her surprise and relief,  Ola Safety immediately called her asking if she was fine. Ola deserves every bit of the praise for this quick action. This is such a relief for all those women passengers using Ola Cabs.

But still, the unmissable fact is that it is still extremely daunting for women in many of our cities to book a cab alone, especially late at night. And therefore, women drivers with all-round training are sure to allay these fears. And if Ola drivers themselves need help, we know Ola Safety will be there for them too.

(The image you see here is of Mehjabeen Sheikh, a woman who found a stable livelihood driving Ola Cabs in Mumbai. Image Credit: YourStory)

To conclude,
1. If you missed the opportunity to tweet to Ola Cabs last week, click here: https://bit.ly/2FAhUWg
2. If you’ve signed and tweeted, then please share this petition with your friends, family and colleagues https://www.change.org/p/bhash-anandish-ola-commit-to-training-200-women-in-mumbai-to-become-cab-drivers-by-women-s-day-2020/share

Thank you,

Anushree