Arti, a child bride whose education was cut short, now shines as a local hero, transitioning from e-rickshaw driver to Amal Clooney Award winner, embodying resilience and empowerment
Her face is bathed in sweat and her hair is dishevelled. But neither the scorching June heat nor the humidity can wear down the wide smile on Arti’s face. Even the power cut at the Aga Khan Foundation’s Project Lehar Centre, where she has been coming for entrepreneurial training, cannot dim her joy. She has just admitted her young daughter to one of the top English medium schools in Bahraich district in Uttar Pradesh.
This is a dream come true for the 19-year-old single mother whose own education came to an end after being married off as a child. What has made this feat even more special for her is that it was the school that expressed keenness to admit her four-year-old daughter. The telephone call from its founder inviting her to fill out the form came soon after Arti was returning from the school having been told admissions for the session were closed. While the call and offer to waive all tuition fees came as a big surprise to Arti, it was not totally unexpected.
Ever since Arti, an e-rickshaw driver, hit the national headlines for winning the prestigious Amal Clooney Women’s Empowerment Award in May this year, she has become a celebrity in Bahraich. Given to young women around the world in recognition of their determination and ability to overcome challenges and make a difference, the international award has catapulted Arti from being just another pink e-rickshaw driver to the official brand ambassador for women’s empowerment in Bahraich, an aspirational district with low socio-economic indicators.
The buzz around her has been non-stop since her return from London where she went to receive the award from the King’s Trust International founded by King Charles. There has been unrelenting attention by local and national media to know more about her remarkable journey, including her ride in a pick-rickshaw to meet King Charles at the award reception in Buckingham Palace. She has also been publicly felicitated by top leaders and officials of the district. But all this would have never been possible had Arti not met the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) Project Lehar team. Instituted to provide vocational training, entrepreneurship, and life skills courses to marginalised young women, Project Lehar run by AKF in partnership with The King’s Trust International, enables girls and young women from disadvantaged backgrounds to learn, earn, and thrive. When the team met Arti, she was living with her mother in Baharaich’s Risia block Having left an abusive marriage, Arti was directionless. Married at 13 and a mother at 14, Arti lacked both skills and confidence. On her mother’s insistence, she agreed to join Project Lehar. Little did she know that her life was about to change.Not far away, in Lauki, another village in the same block a young widow with three children was struggling to make two ends meet after the death of her husband. She was only 20 when she came in touch with the Lehar team.
Left to fend for her children alone, Bitti wanted to do something other than supporting her family as a daily wager and registered for the project.Here she would meet Megha, Saira Bano and Bhagyalakshmi, all young widows with similar backgrounds and living in difficult circumstances. Fate was about to give these four and Arti a collective second chance at life.In June 2023, when Seema Shukla Project Coordinator, state programme manager Sudhir and the AKF team were mulling over the possibility of teaching them to drive and using this skill as a means of livelihood on the lines of the popular Sakha cabs driven by only women, it was Monika Rani, the dynamic Bahraich district magistrate, who turned this idea into reality.
“We were considering how to make the girls economically self sufficient and hit upon the idea of launching the pink e-rickshaw initiative under the government Mission Shakti scheme to empower women and expand their income earning opportunities. We wanted to give single mothers , widows and women separated from their husbands the first chance to come out of the house, increase their mobility and regain their confidence,” says Monika Rani. So on October 2, 2023, these five girls were chosen as the first recipients of a batch of 10 girls from Project Lehar to be given the pink e-rickshaws under this innovative scheme.
A loan of Rs 1.66 lakh was provided and repayable in 38 months at an EMI of Rs 4500.Since then, there has been no looking back. Not only have the women paid eight instalments already, but they are also transforming their lives. From eating just one meal a day, Saira Bano can now give her children proper nutritious food. “I have seen days where my two children and I ate just namak and roti.
Now I earn enough to fulfill every need of my children. I want to do better so that I can build my own house and get an electric connection so that my children don’t have to study under a lamp and I don’t have to pay to charge my e-rickshaw,” shares Saira.The confidence Bitti has gained has given her the courage to demand her right to the family land. She has filed a case in the civil court and wants her father-in-law to put her deceased husband’s share in her son’s name. “I am paying the fees for the lawyer from the money I earn as a e-rickshaw driver. I never thought I would be able to take such a big step,” reveals Bitti. Bhagyalakshmihas opened a tiny kiosk selling biscuits, sweets and pencils for her mother from her earnings. “I want to expand my business. My dream is to make my elder daughter a doctor and the younger one a policewoman. When my income increases I will shift them to an English medium school. I want my children to have a bright future,’ she says.
For Megha too, the e-rickshaw has been life-changing. “I am happy because my economic situation has changed for the better. Now I can give my children better food. I have admitted the two children to private English medium school and can the monthly fee of Rs 250 for both of them Education will ensure they never have to live on charity like I did.”
While association with Project Lehar and the opportunity to become self-reliant thanks to the pink e-rickshaws has turned their lives around, it has been their confidence that has helped them hold their heads high in a male-dominated profession.
This is inspiring other village women to step out of their homes and fulfil their dreams.
(Swapna Majumdar is a journalist writing on development and gender. The views are expressed are personal)
