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RAAHI

by Ferry Bhatia
(Amritsar, India)



RAAHI all set for behavioral change for diesel auto drivers


Rejuvenation of Auto Rickshaws in Amritsar through Holistic Intervention (RAAHI) is part of the Cities Investment for Innovation, Integration and Sustainment (CITIIS) program. The CITIIS program is a core component of the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (MoHUA)'s 'Financing Smart Cities Projects through Challenge Process' launched in July 2018. On February 26, 2019, after a fierce competition with 67 project proposals from 36 cities across the country, ASCL announced 'Development of Sustainable and Eco-friendly Public Transport in Amritsar City'. We received a grant for our project. A total of 12 cities, including Amritsar, have been selected for the CITIIS program. The program is managed by the National Institute for Urban Affairs (NIUA) and supported by the French Development Agency (AFD), the European Union (EU), and Amritsar Smart City Limited. financed. “Development of Sustainable and Eco-friendly Public Transport in Amritsar City” has now been renamed as RAAHI Project. Project includes CEO, community representative, project manager, public engagement and participation officer, public relations officer, graphic designer, and environmental and social hub officer. This includes not only RAAHI's high standard setting experts, but also experts from various government bodies.

According to the National Green Tribunal, all diesel cars should be banned, but there are still a large number of old diesel autos plying on Amritsar's roads. Keeping this in mind, RAAHI was launched at a cost of his 108 Cr. and relevant funding agencies. RAAHI's main objective is to scrap 15-20 year old diesel cars and convert them into electric vehicles. Electric vehicles can be booked through various contract partners and loans can be granted to beneficiaries through various contract banks for the purchase of electric vehicles. This RAAHI aims to bring about a change in the behavior of diesel vehicle drivers towards electric vehicles. To successfully implement this behavior change, various communication methods were used to educate diesel vehicle drivers about RAAHI and its future goals. To bring about change, various camps have been organized in Amritsar Municipal Corporation and various locations, various carnivals and cultural programs for the families of RAAHI drivers, door-to-door campaigns, introduction of social media platforms to create awareness, motor vehicles Camps were held at dealers. Maximize the chances of diesel drivers switching to electric vehicles. It was a think tank in the early days???In other words, it is difficult to bring about changes in the behavior of diesel drivers because this way of thinking makes people lazy to adopt new things. These people have opinion leaders that they follow. Therefore, the adoption rate can be said to be very low.

To this end, various communication strategies have been introduced to bring about changes in diesel vehicles. However, as soon as this project took off, behavioral changes were quickly observed. Purchase parity compared to electric cars has suddenly increased. The number of reservations and registrations has gradually increased, and the number of designated deliveries has also increased. This was seen as a major growth towards electric vehicles. After driving an electric auto in Amritsar, as per surve satisfaction level increased and diesal auto drivers convinced their relatives and friends to buy an electric auto in Amritsar. Additionally, RAAHI aims to provide free skills development programs to beneficiaries of women driver education. Despite all these continuous efforts, Raahi still manages to achieve its target of bringing behavioral change among auto drivers with no boundaries and with positivistic approach.

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