Top

Ladies demand security regarding harassment and eve teasing cases in Vijayawada

Eve teasing on roads, harassment in buses forces women to raise demand
Vijayawada: With a view to curb the complaints received from women commuters regarding harassment and eve teasing cases in Vijayawada city, APSRTC had started a service called Ladies Special, in 2012. The Ladies’ Special service was first initiated in Hyderabad by former Chief Minister late Y. Rajasekhar Reddy, providing safe travel to women commuters.
Though the services started on a high note with eight buses from various depots in the city, it failed to reach the expectations due to lack of awareness and inconvenient timings.
The service finally stopped, leaving distraught women passengers for a safe alternative.
Many of the women in the city are unaware about the services, as the RTC officials have not had any campaigns to educate passengers over the newly launched service.
When quizzed, a middle- aged woman K. Shyamala, said, “We haven’t seen those buses till now.” She wanted to know if the buses were different in colour and design.
Many college- going girl students and other women commuters insist they seldom find these buses on the roads. “I haven’t seen these Ladies’ Special buses the road,” said a college student T. Geetha who lives in the Housing Board Colony, adding that even her mother, who frequently commutes by bus, hasn’t seen any such buses around.
Meanwhile, RTC officials, who do not want to take blame on their part, said that the much-hyped services came to an end due to lack of public patronage.
“Initial enthusiasm soon petered out. Perhaps women don’t really mind traveling with their male counterparts,” said an official.
The girl students and working women in the city, who fear eve teasers and harassment in the buses, are requesting RTC management to once again start the services to clear the ever rising rush. However, the officials complained that there is poor turnout of passengers and that they have to run empty buses often. And that defeats the purpose for which it was introduced.
( Source : deccan chronicle )
Next Story