The Delhi government is considering to exempt women, who are either driving alone or are commuting with other women, from the odd-even driving rule that will be implemented in the national capital for two weeks starting January 1, 2016, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Thursday.
"If there is a single woman or only women in the car, it could be exempted. However, where the woman is accompanied by a male passenger, exemption may lead to misuse. A view is emerging that the first two categories should be exempt, besides cars carrying patients," a The Times of India report quoted Kejriwal as saying.
According to the odd-even scheme, which aims at curbing pollution in the city, private vehicles with odd and even registration numbers would be allowed to ply on alternate days on the city’s roads.
The CM met Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday and though Singh assured Kejriwal of the Centre's support in its initiative, he also raised several concerns regarding the odd-even formula including its effect of the handicapped and aged, those in emergencies, women driving alone from work and whether the public transport was ready to take the load of the extra people who'd not be using their cars on alternate days, the TOI report states.
He also suggested Kejriwal to look into other ways of tackling pollution, like targeting industries that were flouting emission norms.
The TOI report further states, "Asked if the continued dilution of the odd-even scheme pointed to lack of homework, Kejriwal said his government was faced with either doing its homework for two-three years, letting children and vulnerable people take ill or die due to pollution, or implement the plan right away by taking everyone on board."
"We will test it over 15 days, learn from it and enforce it further," the CM told TOI.
The Delhi government on Tuesday had also announced that the odd-even scheme would be implemented for the two weeks between 8am-8pm. While cars with odd numbers will be allowed on odd-dates, the even-numbered ones will be allowed on even dates.