BENGALURU: Bengaluru’s commuters will now have a chance to pick initiatives which they believe would be the best for ensuring safety for women on board buses operated by the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC). After having receiving a grant from the Central Government’s Nirbhaya Fund, the BMTC is now conducting a survey along with the Bangalore Political Action Committee (B.PAC) to ensure that funds are disbursed towards initiatives which the citizens feel are essential.
Armed with funds of around `57 crore, there are several initiatives that the BMTC is keen on promoting. The installation of CCTV cameras — a project which was abandoned earlier for want of funding — has been taken up again and new buses inducted by the BMTC are fitted with the surveillance systems.
Old buses will be upgraded as and when they go for their annual Fitness Certificate (FC) checkup, the officials said.
Besides this, there are other projects in the offing as well. “There is no reason why with a staff strength of around 35,000 we should not have at least 10,000 women employees. We want to train women to be drivers, conductors and handle roles in the field. With a driving licence after training with the BMTC, they can even look at operating last mile connectivity options like cab services,” said M Nagaraju Yadav, Chairman, BMTC.
The focus areas for BMTC, besides CCTVs and driver training, are a dedicated app for women, gender sensitisation programmes for BMTC staff, as well as lounges for women passengers. The survey results will help provide inputs to the BMTC as to which services are considered essential by passengers. According to a B.PAC spokesperson, the surveys are being carried out online as well as at various bus stations in the city. The targeted sample size is 2,000 responses after which the results will be submitted to the BMTC.
“We are also welcoming inputs from other organisations and passengers regarding these issues. Only after discussions are held will we decide how the funds will be disbursed,” Yadav said. Passengers have welcomed the move and said these kind of surveys would help give the BMTC a fair idea about problems on the ground. “There are a lot of problems, specially for women while travelling in buses. Even the staff is rude and dismissive at times and feeling safe when the staff is not supportive is definitely not possible. Women drivers and conductors must increase,” said Trisha Chatterjee, a daily bus commuter. The BMTC has a fleet size of over 6,000 buses and 51 lakh passengers use its services daily.