The Greater Chennai Corporation has signed a memorandum of understanding with Azad Foundation to train women in commercial two-wheeler and four-wheeler driving, opening a new route into professional transport work in Chennai.
The agreement was signed at the Ripon Building as part of an initiative intended to expand mobility options and create dignified livelihood opportunities for women across the city. The programme will give particular attention to women from marginalised socio-economic backgrounds.
Under the partnership, participants will receive training to help them transition into professional transit roles. The announcement did not specify the number of women to be trained, the duration of the programme, the training locations or the timeline for the first batch.
The initiative is being implemented with the involvement of the GCC’s Gender and Policy Lab. According to the corporation, the partnership is intended to address structural barriers that women face in the transport and mobility sectors, where access to training and safe employment remains a challenge.
The corporation said the programme goes beyond driving instruction by focusing on safe and dignified employment. It linked women’s access to professional driving skills with greater financial independence and safer transit infrastructure for women using Chennai’s public and commercial transport networks.
Commercial driving can provide an entry point into several urban mobility roles, including passenger and goods transport services. However, the agreement itself does not establish which specific employers, operators or transport platforms will recruit trained participants after they complete the course.
The partnership also places the municipal corporation in a role that extends beyond conventional civic services. Through its Gender and Policy Lab, the GCC is positioning skills development and women’s participation in transport as part of the city’s broader mobility and inclusion agenda.
GCC Commissioner GS Sameeran, Azad Foundation executives Dolon Ganguly and Malini Krishnan, and Legis, head of the Gender and Policy Lab, were present when the agreement was signed. Further details on enrolment, eligibility, training batches and post-training placement were not provided in the announcement.
