A Rickshaw by any other Name ?

Not according to The Road Transport and Highways Ministry !

They have just issued the following " Guidelines " ( to State Transport Authorities ) , in respect of E-Rickshaws :

#  Speed Limit / Carrying Capacity / Body Specifications

The Road Ministry is also in the process of finalizing the Safety Norms for these " Battery Operated " light vehicles , while allowing them to operate under the Motor Vehicles Act , even as some 4 million E-Rickshaws are already operating in the country !

I suppose , the Ministry will come up with different sets of " Guidelines " for Rickshaws whose prime movers ( the driving force ) are :

#  Ethanol ( I believe , Diesel / Kerosene Engine based rickshaws , are covered by Petrol Engine based rickshaws )

#  Hydrogen based hi-breed Engines ( coupled with Petrol / Kerosene / Diesel / Electric engines )

#  Compressed Air powered Engine / Methane gas powered Engines

#  Other prime movers that I cannot think of right now !

Now , we are all familiar with Human-Power driven rickshaws ( basically a bicycle pedaled by a human and having a comfortable seat at the back for two passengers )

If the front wheel of such an H-Rickshaw ( H for " Human Engine " ? ) were to be replaced by  GeoOrbital  Front Wheel , then it will be some kind of a hi-breed between H and E  !  A H/E - Rickshaw  ?

GeoOrbital  ( www.Geoo.com ) front wheel has a built-in battery , giving a range of 50 miles , with a bit of pedaling

And it will dramatically reduce the effort required by the peddler , while enabling him to earn more ( and with less effort ) by making many more passenger-trips in a working day !

Instead of worrying about , yet another set of " Guidelines " for H/E-Rickshaws , it would be nice if the Road Ministry were to come out with a ,

POLICY  STATEMENT  for  H/E - Rickshaws , which reads :

"  All those unemployed who wish to wish to become Self Employed through owning / operating , a H/E-Rickshaw , will get interest free MUDRA loans for the purchase of such hi-breed vehicles , whose front wheel is a GeoOrbital wheel "

BENEFITS :

#  Huge potential for creating millions of Self Employed

#  Minimum Capital Investment ( probably less than a Motor Bike )

#  H/E-Rickshaws can be , even turned into " Rickshaw Share Taxi " Scheme , enabling a small family of 3 , to

    ride such a rickshaw within a city , by picking it up from one " Parking " place and leave it at another !

   { Husband will get that much needed exercise and improve his health ! )

#  By equipping HE-Rickshaws with GPS enabled Digi-Met(Digital Meter),fare can be paid thru Mobile Wallet (NFC )

#  Traffic congestion and Vehicular pollution will reduce dramatically !

#  Dependence on fossil fuels will reduce

Had Shri Akhilesh Yadav , CM- UP , offered all those 7 lakh UNEMPLOYED who recently applied against 3000 vacancies of " Safai Kamdar " ( Sweepers ) in Kanpur , a hi-breed H/E-Rickshaw , ( of course ,  Free of Cost ! ) , then , he would have guaranteed himself , a re-election in the forthcoming State elections , while claiming credit for achieving the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan, by 2017 ( against the Road Ministry target of 6 million electric vehicles on roads , by 2020 ) !

May be , Shri Nitin Gadkariji would want to seize the opportunity that Shri Yadav , missed !

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21  Aug  2016

www.hemenparekh.in / blogs