Life is not a bed of roses. Everyone has their own struggle and so did Vankudoth Saritha (30).
Being the first woman driver to be recruited by Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) isn’t a routine story. She left her home when she was seven years old as her father was unable to provide her two square meals a day, leave alone education.
Her father, Ramkoti, was debt-ridden after marrying off his two daughters out of five girl children in the family.
This forced Saritha, the youngest of all, to leave her village Seethya tanda of Samsthan Narayanapur mandal to stay with her elder sister Lakshmi at Deverakonda and continue her education.
But fate had something else in store for her. Her brother-in-law, who was an auto-rickshaw driver, died of sickness because of which she had to quit education. To support her family, she underwent training in tailoring in 2003, but could only earn Rs. 30 a day. She later started driving her brother-in-law’s auto-rickshaw and became the first woman to ferry passengers in Deverakonda.
After a couple of years, she returned to Seethya tanda. With the help of a local leader, Raghupathi, she took loan from a bank to buy an auto-rickshaw. By making trips from Chouttuppal to Seethya tanda, she earned up to Rs. 6,000 a month.
In 2011, she went to Hyderabad in search of a better job. She was a mini bus driver for Holy Mary Educational Institutions in Golconda for a year and also completed her schooling through open schooling system.
Inspired by Saritha’s journey, an enterprising woman, Bhanushree, found her a job as taxi driver with Azad Foundation in New Delhi where she was also taught English and Hindi, beside being imparted rigorous training for six months. She also worked as a chauffeur for a leading woman scientist for a monthly salary of Rs. 12,000 while working with the foundation.
Later, DTC called for applications from women drivers. “Though ten of us applied, I am the only one to get selected as I successfully cleared various screening tests conducted by DTC,” said Saritha, speaking to The Hindu over phone from New Delhi. Now, she is the first and the only woman driver among 14,000 drivers working for DTC.
Vankudoth Saritha from Nalgonda is the first woman to be recruited by Delhi Transport Corporation
