A young Vijaywada boy has shouldered the responsibility of feeding his family by driving an electric auto rickshaw and saving money to put bread on the table.
Eight-year-old Raja Gopal Reddy’s blind parents and two younger siblings are fully dependent on the young gun for survival.
Raja’s story gained attention across the masses after he was shot on video, riding an e-auto rickshaw and dropping off passengers to their desired locations in a village near Tirupati.
The video also features him explaining his plight to the viewers.
Raja explains in order to support his family he also has to sell rice and pulses in addition to driving an auto.
Also Read | Virgin Hyperloop releases new video, claims to connect cities at 670 mph
His family, comprising of his visually impaired parents, Papi Reddy and Revathi, and two younger brothers, are based in Gangudupalle village under Chandragiri mandal in Chittoor district.
The video shows the boy sitting at the edge of the seat, trying to reach the auto floor, attempting to hit the brakes while riding around.
Raja explained in the video he has to help family sell off the pulses and rice stocks at their local village market in Chittoor district and use the auto to transport goods from one place to another.
After the young boy’s story started doing the rounds, TDP national general secretary Nara Lokesh came forward to help the family with a fundraiser.
Also Read | CCI imposes Rs 200 crore fine on Maruti Suzuki over dealer discount policy
The story also brought back to light India’s focus on electric vehicles.
Recently, India revised its proposal scheme worth $8 billion for the auto sector which is aimed at incentivising companies to build electric and hydrogen fuel-powered vehicles, according to Reuters.
This is being seen as a significant shift in the electric vehicle sector from the Indian government’s original plan to incentivise auto part makers to build mainly gasoline vehicles and their components for domestic sale and export.
This comes as Elon Musk’s Tesla Inc gears up to enter the Indian market and has been continuously lobbying for reduced import duties on export cars.
