NEW DELHI: Women staff at toll plazas on national highways will be given specialised training in basic safety protocols and handling emergency situations, with a focus on employees from rural areas.
According to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), the structured capacity building effort is expected to enhance service quality while ensuring a safe and professional working environment.
To promote women’s empowerment and inclusivity in toll collection operations, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has deployed over 5,100 women during day shifts to manage toll booths at more than 1,140 toll plazas across national highways and expressways in the country.
The objective of deploying women staff in frontline operational roles is to improve the highway user experience by fostering an efficient, empathetic and user friendly environment for commuters, as well as reducing the likelihood of disputes at toll booths on fee plazas.
“NHAI will also facilitate specialised training for the deployed female staff, particularly those from rural areas. The training will focus on areas such as courteous behaviour with National Highway users, handling emergency situations, basic safety protocols, and maintaining efficient toll plaza operations,” said ministry officials.
The decision was taken after deliberations and discussions with various stakeholders, including fee plaza operators and key industry associations such as the National Highways Builder Federation (NHBF), Highway Operators Association of India (HOAI), and the All India User Fee Contractors Federation (AIUCF).
“All toll operators have unanimously agreed to deploy women staff during day shifts for user fee collection at toll plazas. Over 5,100 female toll staff have already been deployed, and more are expected to join in the near future… NHAI will closely monitor the implementation of this initiative to ensure compliance."
"The initiative will help generate employment opportunities for women, especially in rural and semi urban regions, while strengthening their participation in the National Highway infrastructure sector and generating employment in these remote areas,” ministry officials added.
The Authority decided in March 2018 to deploy all women toll collecting staff in day shifts at at least one toll plaza close to city areas as a pilot initiative.
Officials said that if the initiative proves successful, women staff would be deployed across all toll plazas under NHAI within the next three months.
“By encouraging greater involvement of women in frontline operational roles, NHAI aims to promote gender inclusivity and social empowerment, alongside improving service delivery at National Highway toll plazas across the country.”