The second phase of the odd-even scheme is set to roll out this Friday. And like last time, women are exempted this time around as well. The decision to exempt women was announced citing the reason that public transport is not safe for women. In doing so, the Government admitted to its own failure and publicly declared that in 14 months after they came to power, they have failed to even make public transport safer for women, let alone making the whole Delhi safe.
Notably, in the survey conducted by the Delhi Government after the success of the first edition of odd-even scheme, which the AAP Government claims to be the basis of its decision to bring back the odd-even scheme, 60 per cent of respondents were not in favor of exempting vehicles carrying only women. Out of a total of 23,262 respondents who were in favor of bringing back odd-even scheme, only 9,304 were in favour of exempting vehicles carrying women with or without kids.
Even in the surveys conducted in 276 Mohalla Sabhas, the majority was not in favor of exempting women only cars. However, a majority of Mohalla Sabhas favoured exempting vehicles carrying women with kids.
Despite the fact that opinion was in favour of including women in the odd-even restrictions so they could also contribute to the cause of making Delhi pollution-free, the Government held consultation with different women organisations. Interestingly, majority of women present in the consultation meeting favoured women drivers being kept out of the ambit of the scheme. The Delhi Government then decided to go ahead with exemption of all women-only vehicles whether they are carrying children or not. While some city women have embraced the move, others have called it a “sexist and regressive” move.
“I do not feel that women should be given exemption. If public transport is not safe for women and that is the reason behind granting exemption, then what about the thousands of women who already travel in buses, metros and other modes of public transportIJ Does the Government have no responsibility to themIJ Just by giving exemption to those women who travel in cars, the responsibility of the Government towards safety of women is finishedIJ” asked Swati Mantri, a research scholar in IIT Delhi.
Sharing her views, Rohini resident Prachi Sharma said, “I feel that the decision to exempt cars driven by women is regressive, sexist and elitist. Many women who cannot afford to travel in cars every day already use the public transport. Is the concern for women safety reserved only for those women who can travel in carsIJ Second, while the Government is encouraging men to use public transport, at the same time it is encouraging women to use cars, publicly declaring that public transport is not safe for them. How regressive and sexist can it getIJ”
On the other hand, social media executive Shilpa Agarwal said in the current scenario, she favours exemption to women. “During the odd-even part one as well, I used public transport whenever possible to support the cause. But I feel that in a place like Delhi, a woman should have the option to drive in her own car if she doesn’t feel safe otherwise. Ideally, there should be no exemption for women. But in that ideal world, public places should also be safe for women. Till that cannot be assured, exemption for women is welcome,” she said.
Stuti Arora, who runs her own business of customised mobile covers, shared Shilpa’s opinion and said pollution needs to be reduced on an urgent basis, but women safety is the issue one cannot ignore at all.
“With surging number of rapes and assault cases, it has already become a nightmare for women to live in Delhi. If women won’t be able to drive their even numbered cars on odd days, it will put their safety in major risk. Odd-even formula was introduced to reduce pollution but the term “equality” has come in the scenario from nowhere. In my view, taking the condition of Delhi, which is called as a rape city, Kejriwal has done his bit by exempting women, which is, for sure, commendable,” she said.