Ten special city buses with women bus conductors trained in martial arts and equipped with CCTV cameras – exclusively for women and for children below eight years – rolled out on the city roads on Wednesday morning.
The ‘Ladies Special’ buses – six private and four from the fleet of Assam State Transport Corporation – will ply twice a day from the Khanapara bus stop to Kachari bus stop via Paltanbazar. The services will be available from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. and from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.
District Transport Officer Kamrup, Gautam Das said the special buses had been introduced as part of a pilot project of making women’s journey in city’s buses safe and comfortable.
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“All the ten women bus conductors have been imparted training in martial arts. Besides, they have been trained in 108 first correspondent course imparted by GVK Emergency Management and Research Institute so that they can quickly connect to the 108 emergency response centre during medical and accident emergencies.
The CCTV system is installed by the Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority. Depending on the response we plan to train more women bus conductors and introduce more buses for women passengers,” he told The Hindu .
On an average, over 800 city buses ply every day in greater Guwahati areas. Mr. Das said the ten buses would be driven by male drivers.
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The District Transport Authorities would impart training to women willing to take up the driving job. “The response to the announcement of our plan to train women bus conductors was overwhelming. Within ten days of the announcement, ten women, including two graduates, came forward to receive the training,” he added.
Prior to flagging off of the buses by Chief Secretary Jitesh Khosla, the women bus conductors attired in uniform, were given three-day orientation in issuing tickets, guiding passengers to their seats, signalling drivers at bus stops, with male conductors giving them tips.
The district transport authorities roped in Dipali Rajkhowa, the first woman in Assam to drive a self-owned city bus in 1989, to interact with women bus conductors. They also interacted with 12 women drivers trained by Meghali Bora, who runs a ladies driving training centre in the city, for a taxi service exclusively for women in the city, which the district transport authorities are planning to launch soon in the city and also to and fro the Lokapriya Gopinath Bardoloi international airport.