Hubballi: Nearly seven months after HDMC promised pink e-autos for women in its 2026-27 budget, the ambitious initiative to promote women’s economic empowerment has yet to get off the ground. The civic body had earmarked Rs 4.10 crore for the project, but the implementation process has not begun.The budget proposal envisaged distributing pink e-autos to eligible women beneficiaries to provide livelihood opportunities and enhance mobility. However, there has been little movement since the announcement, with even preliminary administrative processes pending.Officials were expected to initiate several steps after the budget was presented, including framing eligibility criteria, inviting applications from women across all 82 wards, conducting ward-wise outreach, scrutinising applications and floating a tender for procurement of e-autos.However, none of these processes has begun. Despite HDMC having a woman mayor, the project has failed to progress beyond the announcement stage, raising questions over the delay in rolling out a scheme projected as a key women-centric initiative.The absence of guidelines has also left potential beneficiaries without an official mechanism to apply. No procurement process has been initiated, nor has any formal communication been issued on the timeline for implementation.The Rs 4.10-crore allocation remains reserved for the project, but there is no clarity yet on when applications will be invited or when the tender for supplying the vehicles will be floated.HDMC official Girish Talwar attributed the delay to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and other ongoing work. He said a proper implementation framework could not be prepared because officials were occupied with these assignments. The matter would soon be discussed with the commissioner, following which a decision would be taken.HDMC commissioner Rudresh Ghali said the programme’s implementation guidelines would be framed soon. Once the guidelines are finalised, applications will be invited from eligible women beneficiaries, followed by the tender process for supplying the e-autos.
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