Mrunal Manmay Dash

10 women bike riders under the banner of ‘We The Road Queens’ set out on a 10 kilometres long rally in Bhubaneswar to mark the International Women’s Day on Tuesday.

The rally was flagged off by the IGP, Operations, Amitabh Thakur.

As per reports, the bike riding women not only spread the message of women’s empowerment, they also conveyed road safety messages to motorists.

Speaking to reporters, a rider, Abhinanda Acharya said, “We expect to minimise the discrimination between boys and girls made by parents. I think, after watching a group of girls riding bikes on the streets, more and more parents will open their minds and we will see girls riding bikes in the city soon.”

“History proves that women are in no way inferior to men. The girls just need some encouragement and a little push to achieve their true potential,” she said.

IG Amitabh Thakur spoke with the reporters after flagging off the rally. “The women riders today carried an important message with them. Road safety awareness is paramount in today’s context. I am glad that they took such an initiative on the Women’s Day.”

Meanwhile, the State Transport Authority of the Odisha government shared a video appreciating the new-age woman vehicle drivers on the Women’s Day.

The video showed a congested road where a truck was finding it hard to negotiate due to the breaking down of another vehicle. Seeing the helplessness of the truck driver, a woman, who happened to ride a scooter comes forward and offers help.

After some initial hesitation, the truck driver finally agrees to hand over the steering wheel to the woman who drove the truck out of the congestion effortlessly, earning applause from other commuters.

The woman was the Trainer at the Heavy Motor Vehicle (HMV) training institute at Chhatia, Puja Barik.

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