Unsung COVID Warrior: Female E-Rickshaw Driver Ferries Corona Patients Free Of Cost!

Siliguri: She may not be a doctor or a cop. Nonetheless, Munmun Sarkar is no less a frontline worker in these trying times.

At a time when ambulance drivers and other vehicles are refusing to carry COVID-19 patients or charging exorbitant rates, Munmun Sarkar is not only ferrying coronavirus patients to hospitals in her e-rickshaw, she is not charging a penny for her service.

The 48-year-old Munmun, the first lady e-rickshaw driver of Siliguri in West Bengal, heads the association of women e-rickshaw drivers in the populous town of Darjeeling district.

“Initially when I started ferrying COVID-19 patients, even the local councillor asked me to stop while neighbours tried to ostracize me and my family. But I was determined and my family members supported me throughout. They were ready to face the consequences,” she was quoted as saying by the Hindustan Times.

Munmun, who has been driving the e-rickshaw for over six years, also delivers food and other relief materials to those in need.

“I was ready to face all consequences to support the work of my wife even if that meant staying out on the roads,” said her husband Ananda Sarkar.

Munmun, who could not pass class 12, was determined to do social service with her focus being on empowering and encouraging women. She set an example and now, there are now 118 female e-rickshaw drivers in Siliguri.

“I have carried a few hundred COVID-19 patients so far… only one of them has died,” she said.

Her exemplary work has been acknowledged by by many organisations, including Siliguri Journalists’ Club, who have felicitated her.