Vehicles of government and public sector enterprises with women at the wheels will soon become a reality in the State.
Ending a male domain, the State Cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday decided to induct women drivers in all government departments and public sector undertakings to “ensure gender equality in all walks of society.”
In Kerala, women drive private buses, taxis, autorickshaws and ambulances. The State-owned Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) has a lone woman driver among the 11,000-odd drivers. Sheela, the driver who hails from Perumbavoor, is at present attached to the KSRTC capital city unit.
Rules to be amended
The Chief Minister’s office said the recruitment rules would be amended. The file for the political decision by the Cabinet came from the newly formed Department of Women and Child Development.
Official sources said the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms would be tasked with the responsibility of amending the Special Rules for executing the Cabinet decision. Once this is done, the Kerala Public Service Commission can make the necessary changes while issuing the notification.
As much as 51.4% of the Kerala’s population is women and initiatives by the government over the years have not helped to end the discrimination towards women.
“We have found that there is no need to reserve the post of drivers in government departments and public sector enterprises to men. The department has carried out a study and has found that the jobs need not be reserved for men and that women can handle this job with ease,” Minister for Social Justice Women and Child Development K. K. Shylaja said. The decision would result in more employment opportunities for women and further help change the perception of society towards women and their empowerment, she added.
Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac said the decision marks the fall of another “male bastion.” “Kerala government decides to recruit women to driver posts in different departments. Rules will be amended. Another male bastion falls,” Dr. Isaac wrote on Twitter.
