The 34-year-old from Ujjain, who has a black belt in taekwondo, has been overseeing the self-defence training of the first batch of women at the camp set up by the NSKFDC. I start panicking when I see a truck coming towards me.. I have all that I need. The scheme seems to be bringing these girls closer to their dream. But her family wanted her to get married, so she stopped reporting to us.There are also girls who have been driving e-rickshaws in the city. “This scheme has changed the way I look at life. “We have a case wherein a girl was trained and was employed.”But the journey of breaking free from their wretched jobs to one of respectability and empowerment hasn’t been an easy one for all these women.The mammoth task for the agencies working to rehabilitate these women is also to make sure that their families cooperate with them. The National Safai Karamchari Finance and Development Corporation (NSKFDC), which was tasked to train the women under the Swachchh Bharat Abhiyan in commercial driving, self-defence and soft skills, has already placed a few women as drivers in the city. The Central government has planned to set up 70 such camps in other cities as well, for which 12,226 manual scavengers have been identified in 12 states across the country.Another girl, Luxmi, who is currently employed as a driver in a private home, feels empowered after she was coached and rehabilitated by the corporation.02 lakh for training and rehabilitation of 2,390 manual scavengers and their dependents.

I think it was a waste of talent. The training module for the two batches included soft skills and extensive training in basics of car mechanisms. The NSKFDC has signed a MoU with Ola and Uber to make sure that these women get a hands-on experience of commercial driving. To begin with, for this project, women who are part of families involved in manual scavenging in Delhi were identified, and training camps were set up near their homes in areas like Rohini, Dwarka and Mangolpuri. Until the time she gets her commercial licence, she has been temporarily employed by a young lawyer in Delhi. An official from the NSKFDC says that some of the parents refuse to allow their daughters to work. No one in my family has been in this profession. “Jab log gaadi chalate dikhte hain tab bahut achcha lagta hai. (It feels good to watch people drive. I get so scared that in my first job I almost caused a collision. Rakhi, 20, whose family has been cleaning septic tanks for almost two generations, is all excited to step into her new role as a cab driver.”

But for every girl who drops out, there are cases like that of Mamtha Sangte, who was once a manual scavenger and who broke the cycle of poverty in her family by becoming a martial arts trainer. There is a need to educate the families on the importance of empowering these women. As a start, the Union social welfare ministry had released Rs China ratchet socket wrench 67. Now I drive my own life). I never thought I would become independent and have a respectable job. Ab mai apni life khud chalati hun. I will get another job soon,” says Sharda optimistically. One of the young women, Sharda, who was trained at the Sangam Vihar camp, is still trying to get over her fear of trucks.The social justice ministry and the NSKFDC aim to train 10,000 such dalit women manual scavengers by 2019. I feel very confident every day when I go to drop my boss,” says a beaming Rakhi. I was told to leave. “I am still not confident enough.Women take part in a self-defence training session at a camp set up by the National Safai Karamchari Finance and Development CorporationAfter seven months of comprehensive training, around 400 women, who were earlier working as manual scavengers in Delhi, have procured their light motor vehicle driving licences and will soon be seen as smart cabbies zipping through the city roads driving Ola and Uber cabs. But it is ok