At that time when ambulance drivers refusing to carry Covid-19 patients and charging exorbitant rates from families are common, a 48-year-old woman who is an e-rickshaw driver in north Bengal has been braving all odds and ferrying such patients to hospitals for no-cost .
Munmun Sarkar, the first woman e-rickshaw driver of Siliguri in Darjeeling district, who is now head of the association of women e-rickshaw drivers in the town. She is lovingly called ‘Muniya Didi’ by all.
She said ,Initially when she started ferrying Covid-19 patients, even the local councillor asked her to stop while neighbours tried to ostracize her and her family. But she was determined and her family members supported her throughout. They were ready to face the consequences
She started driving the e-rickshaw, popularly known as Toto, almost six and half years ago. She also delivers food and other relief materials to those in need. Her family members including her husband Ananda Sarkar, son Subhankar who works in the State Bank of India, daughter Suparna Poddar have been a support throughout.
A resident of Shaktigarh area, Munmun who could not pass class 12, was always into social service and wanted to empower women folks. That’s why she started driving an e-rickshaw and set an example for other women. There are now 118 women Toto drivers in Siliguri town.
Stating that money was never an attraction for her, she said that when the pandemic started, she stopped ferrying normal passengers and started carrying only Covid-19 patients to hospitals and those who have been released from hospitals back to their homes.
She always puts on PPE and the driver’s seat of her Toto is covered with a plastic sheet. But she said that she never bought any PPE. Various organisations gift them to her to provide her support.