Object of devotion

A new image for rickshaws

Alok Gupta

This rickshaw has given me great respect. I worship it." Umesh Ram's face glowed as he talked about his object of devotion. It is bright red with a cushioned black seat and a first aid box hanging in front. It also has a pouch to hold newspapers and there is Karishma Kapoor smiling at passengers from a biscuit advertisement.

Five years ago, Kumar travelled 150 km to Patna from the outskirts of Jhajha, a small town in Bihar's Jamui district. After a year of labour at construction sites he could not earn enough to send money home. Then someone introduced him to a rickshaw-owner. Things improved a little. The rickshaw-puller still slept on pavements, but he could save a little to send home after paying his vehicle's irritable owner a daily rental of Rs 25.

Kumar took the daily abuses from passengers and police in his stride. He had very few options. But that was till last year. "In 2008, the babus of the Samman Foundation gave me a new rickshaw. They taught me traffic rules and told me to avoid the main roads. I learnt to ply my vehicle on feeder roads.

Passengers rarely abuse me now," Kumar said. He is one of the one lakh rickshaw pullers registered with the Patna-based Samman Foundation. "Rickshaws need to be taken seriously as a business opportunity," Irfan Alam, founder and chairperson of the foundation, asserted. Samman's project launched two years ago draws heavily on advertisement revenue. Two feet by two feet advertisements painted on the back of a rickshaw fetch between Rs 40 and Rs 800 a day. "We pay 33 per cent of the revenue to the pullers. We don't charge them any rent. But every week, rickshaw pullers pay Rs 15 to Rs 25 as maintenance charges," Alam said. Cellphone operators Idea, Airtel and Aircel and Bisleri, Punjab National Bank, and Priya Gold Biscuit have signed advertising contracts with Samman.

Kumar makes between Rs 300 and Rs 800 every month from advertising revenues. This is besides the Rs 4,000-Rs 4,500 he makes from his passengers. "My monthly earnings have gone up by Rs 2,000. I have a bank balance of Rs 500 and the Samman Foundation has got me an insurance policy. And somewhere deep down, there is also a feeling that Irfan and his team will help in times of crisis." About 500 km away in Kolkata's busy Purna Cinema crossing, standing besides a rickshaw kiosk, Reena Das exudes similar confidence. Das's world came crashing two years ago when an accident left her husband paralysed. "He was the sole bread-earner of the family. We were penniless after he was rendered bed-ridden. Then one day I saw an advertisement put up by Project Sukanya and thought it was time to step out of home. Since then, this rickshaw kiosk has become my life. My husband is recovering slowly," she said, stopping briefly to wipe a tear.

It's founder Aparna Banerjee described Project Sukanya as "an Indianized version of retail chain". Banerjee, management graduate from Jamshedpur's Xavier Labour Relations Institute (XLRI), launched the project in Kolkata in 2005 as an employment generation scheme for women. "I did an MBA in logistics and supply chain management and realized I wanted to become an social entrepreneur. I then did a course in anthropology understand human rights issues. I realized that women need financial independence to get freedom from restrictions, abuse and social taboos," Banerjee said, adding that she struggled to complete her studies due to severe financial constraints.

Very early in her endeavour, Banerjee realized marketing was the bottleneck of small scale enterprises. "I found retail the only option. But setting up huge retail space was beyond my capacity.