KOLKATA: To ensure that women in the city can commute safely in app-based cabs and taxis even at night, the Kolkata Traffic Police is launching a gender sensitisation programme for drivers, a senior officer said.
He said that officers of Kolkata Traffic Police's South East Guard will roll out the initiative for training cab drivers from Tuesday. "The drivers will be trained how to behave properly with women passengers," he said.
The officer said that Kolkata Police Training Academy and the Kolkata Traffic Police will jointly start the training of drivers of app-based cabs, taxis and autorickshaws. "In the past couple of years, we have witnessed several incidents of app-cab drivers misbehaving with women passengers. There are incidents of women being harassed by cab drivers. So to ensure that the city is safe for women commuters, we will be starting the training programme from the South East Traffic Guard," the officer told PTI.
He said that later, such training programmes will be taken up at other traffic guards also. "After training the app-cab drivers we also have plans to train bus conductors. At the end of the training, the drivers will be given a certificate, and a sticker - This Car Respects Women - which they will have to paste on the windshield of their vehicles," the officer said.
The primary aim of the drive is to cut down on the number of crimes against women passengers.