A woman auto driver’s resolution for the New Year: Move from a slum to a 1BHK

Sawant, a widow and mother of two, drives an auto-rickshaw for a living and makes no bones about it. She stays with her mother in Aranyeshwar area off Pune-Satara Road and is responsible for running the household. Her son (24) stays in their native place of Satara and daughter (21) is in the final year of her college, pursuing a science degree. Her 75-year-old mother mostly keeps unwell.

According to Sawant, even before her husband passed away some years ago, she was the one running the household. She took to this profession seven years ago after she bought an autorickshaw with the help of a bank loan. Before this, she worked as a nurse at a local hospital.

“I took a loan to buy an autorickshaw after the government announced the Mudra Loan scheme. Initially, I was turned away from everywhere. No bank gave me a loan. Finally, I took out a loan from a co-operative bank, which cost me about Rs 1 lakh more due to high-interest rate. A few years earlier, I had taken out a loan in my name for a friend and she defaulted on it. That compounded my trouble,” said Sawant.

Currently, Sawant earns an average of Rs 1,000 a day in fares, of which some goes into paying for fuel and maintenance of the vehicle. “I am not afraid of going out on long trips, even outstation tours to Lonavala, Kedgaon or Karad. My passengers are often impressed that being a woman, I drive continuously for such long distances. I don’t think that’s difficult,” says Sawant with a smile.

She has mostly favourable things to say about her male colleagues and the innumerable passengers that she has carried in her vehicle. “Rarely you get someone who is mischievous. Like this old man who kept touching my back for some reason. I snapped at him so bad that he was mortified. If someone does something bad, I am ready to break their bones,” she says even as she seems capable of executing her threats.

This year, Shraddha wants to fulfil her dream of moving out of the one-room accommodation in the slum into a comfortable 1BHK apartment. However, she is facing issues in getting a bank loan. “I am ready to pay the EMIs, even if it’s higher. I also have saved money to pay the down-payment. The banks are turning me away due to my past issue with the loan I took for the friend. My only hope for the new year is to get a loan so that I could buy an apartment and get my son married. And, last but not least, my mother should keep her calm and fight a little less with me at home,” she says with a smile.