Breaking barriers: Chennai auto driver wins Kamla Bhasin Award for gender equality

“I feel more confident now,” says Mohana Sundari.

Back from her first international trip, she shows no signs of fatigue. She is, in fact, “more than ready to take on the world.”

Mohana, an auto driver who operates from Chennai’s Aynavaram neighbourhood, recently won the Kamla Bhasin Award (South Asia) – Driving the World towards Gender Equality in an event held in Kathmandu, Nepal. She is the first winner from Tamil Nadu to bag this prestigious honour, instituted in the name of feminist icon Kamla Bhasin to celebrate individuals working to challenge patriarchy and promote gender justice.

Instituted by The Azad foundation, National Foundation for India, and iPartner India, the Kamla Bhasin Award is in its fourth instalment currently and celebrates practitioners of non-traditional livelihood. The award includes a trophy, letter of appreciation, and prize money of Rs. 1,00,000.

“It is a huge inspiration for me. I became emotional while receiving this award because all I did is to speak from my heart about issues that affect me. Many people I met during the function congratulated me for my views on gender equality. I believe that instead of just talking about equality of men and women, it is important to practise it in everyday life, which is what I am trying to do in the transport sector,” she says, proudly.

Snapshots from the Kamla Bhasin Award 2025 event at Nepal

Mohana, who drives her autorickshaw every day in Chennai for multiple travel aggregators, is also the President of the Veera Pengal Munnetra Sangam (VPMS), a cooperative that aims to ensure better working conditions and monetary benefits for more than 600-plus women autodrivers. “55 percent of our members are single parents. For us, taking care of our children and bringing in money becomes difficult. So, the driving and transport industry – be it cars, autorickshaws or even food delivery options – is a boon . Being a united cooperative, the income that we get helps our members financially in case of emergencies and also makes them eligible for schemes like ESI and PF,” she explains, “As women become more financially independent, they will be more equipped to take on the world.”

Mohana has dabbled in several industries, like food, beauty and private security , before settling on her current profession as an autodriver, post a big financial setback she suffered during the pandemic . “I remembered that I had a valid driving license, and took to driving an autorickshaw as it gave me a daily income to run the household. Here too, I faced significant opposition from male autorickshaw drivers, who used to taunt me without realising the difficulties I faced,” she recalls.

Over time, she met several women autorickshaw drivers like her, who had many horror stories to share. “All these only spurred me on. I realised that the minute that we achieve a certain level of financial independence and are united under the umbrella of a cooperative, society will view us differently. We still talk about inequalities in rural areas, but here in a big city like Chennai itself, there are several women silently suffering,” explains Mohana, whose VPMS is supported by a non-profit organisation called the Alliance for Community Empowerment (ACE), represented by Vijay Gnanaprasad, an IT employee who also backs community-based initiatives.

Mohana, who is also the lead of a Tamil documentary film titled Auto Queens that will premiere in Chennai soon, adds, “Our goal is to motivate all women auto-drivers to voice their problems better, and gain more respect in the eyes of society.”