Pvt buses to have women conductors

Kochi: The district is all set to welcome women conductors from Kudumbashree in private buses as a part of a special project being implemented in the district. The decision was taken at the Student Travel Facility Organization meeting presided by district collector M G Rajamanickam in the city on Tuesday.
The bus owners who participated in the event offered full support for the project.
"We will kick-start the scheme by identifying 100 aspiring women from various Kudumbashree groups. They will be given training prior to the launch. The private bus owners have promised to pay reasonable wages for these conductors on par with that of their male counterparts. The objective behind implementing such a programme was to avoid issues that arise among private bus operators and passengers, especially students," said Tany Thomas, Kudumbashree district coordinator.
Regional Transport Office (RTO) officials said that license would be issued to women on completion of training.
"Women who have completed SSLC can apply for the post. Maximum working time will be till 8pm. It has also been decided that stickers will be put up onboard the buses which will feature helpline numbers where passenger grievances can be reported," said RTO K M Shaji.
The RTO also advised the enhancement of the existing system of CCTV surveillance in buses. Bus owners informed that they are considering the possibility of replacing tickets with smartcards.
They pointed out that while most buses have already using ticket machines, there is not enough facility to handle repair and damage of the devices.