New Delhi, June 5 -- Satya Thakur, 24, spends a total of three hours each day commuting between her home and coaching centre - amounting to 18 hours a week, excluding Sundays.

She lives in Tikrapara, a locality in Raipur, the capital of Chhattisgarh. To travel the 3 kilometres from her home to Jaistambh Chowk, she takes a shared auto or e-rickshaw, a journey that takes about 20-30 minutes. From there, she switches to another vehicle to reach Mowa Bazar, which is 7 kilometres away.

The coaching centre is located 2 kilometres from Mowa Bazar, and since no public transport runs along this stretch, she walks the distance - a 30-minute trek. Under normal conditions, covering the 12 kilometres round trip takes about 3 hours, but traffic cong...