Shimla Mayor Chauhan inaugurates Pink Taxi service for safer urban travel

The service, introduced by the social organization Connecting Lives, is designed exclusively for women passengers, with women drivers behind the wheel.

Mayor Chauhan told ANI, "This is a new initiative. Connecting Lives have worked to connect women living alone. Helping them reach the market and return safely is a major step. I congratulate all members and urge everyone to welcome this initiative so that it benefits all."

Chauhan also announced that 50 per cent of his one-month honorarium will be donated to the organization to support this cause. "Furthermore, free parking facilities will be made available for these taxis within city limits," he said.

The Pink Taxi service will operate only within Shimla Municipal Corporation limits and is available on call during the day and in emergencies at night, as per the organization's plan. The initiative is especially targeted at women commuters, offering them a safer and more affordable alternative.

Bimla Thakur, President of Connecting Lives, elaborated on the journey of this initiative.

"The taxi service we have started will be available on-call within the city and is exclusively for women. We initially launched it as a night service on February 20, but didn't receive much response, only one or two women reached out. For now, it will operate during the day," she said.

She further added that while regular night operations will not run due to low demand, emergency services at night may be provided for women in distress, especially if they are already registered with the organization.

"If a woman is in distress and needs help at night, we will provide late-night rides -- but only to registered women whose contact numbers we have," she explained.

The Connecting Lives organization works for empowering women, particularly single mothers, widows, divorcees, and unmarried women.

"We want to empower women. This will be driven by women drivers only. We plan to expand this across Himachal in the future," Thakur said.

The initiative has received appreciation from city officials and the local community alike. The combination of safety, affordability, and female empowerment has struck a chord, with the potential to become a model for other cities in the State.

This marks a notable step towards safer public mobility for women in Shimla, and potentially across Himachal Pradesh in the near future.