On 25th March 2026, five women e-rickshaw entrepreneurs were flagged off by Hon'ble Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, at a brief ceremony carrying the weight of years of quiet, determined work under the Safe Mobility initiative.

Safe Mobility traces its roots to Mirzapur, where Development Alternatives (DA) first listened to a fundamental truth: when mobility is unsafe or unavailable, women’s world shrink. Stepping out, pursuing education, earning a livelihood, and accessing everyday services become disproportionately harder. From those listening sessions, Safe Mobility was born, co-created with the women who lived these realities.

What followed was neither easy nor linear. Women learned to drive, built credibility with financiers, and negotiated space in a sector long dominated by men. They formed Aarya Groups (solidarity network of women e-rickshaw entrepreneurs) for mutual support and convened on the Aarya Manch (a platform for Safe Mobility ecosystem stakeholders and e-rickshaw entrepreneurs) alongside local government and transport stakeholders to resolve real barriers, ranging from discriminatory treatment to lack of banking access.

Today, the network has grown to over 250+ women-led e-rickshaws across Mirzapur, Varanasi, Kaushambi, Gorakhpur, and Jhansi, offering safe mobility to over 150,000 women and young girls.

The Gorakhpur flag-off is yet another public declaration of five women claiming visibility, income, and voice in spaces that once felt beyond reach.