Bengaluru: It has received around Rs 57 crore in instalments over the years under the Centre's Nirbhaya fund scheme, but the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) has still not taken steps to improve women's safety on its buses. Ask Managing Director of BMTC, Ponnuraj about the delay , and he says it has drawn up an eight point action plan to improve women's safety on its buses and is only awaiting approval from the Centre, which had made some suggestions, to implement it .
If all goes according to plan the BMTC hopes to come out with an app for women's safety, including a panic button and passenger tracking system. The panic button, if pressed, will send alerts to the police, BMTC control room and the passenger's family. In another move to promote safety on board city buses, they could soon have CCTV cameras with the BMTC already calling for tenders for them.
As for the plan to train women to drive heavy passenger vehicles to improve the sex ratio of BMTC employees announced at a Bus Day last year , BMTC chairman, Nagaraj Yadav, says it is waiting for the Women and Child Department to send a list of candidates to it to begin the training. The corporation has the funds it needs as the Centre had allotted Rs 10.54 crore for driver training last year.
Also in the pipeline are waiting lounges at bus stations for women staff and passengers, with drinking water and restroom facilities, where they could breastfeed their babies, if need be. These are scheduled to be opened at the new terminals at BTM Layout, Hoskote, Kalasipalyam, Singapura and Mallasandra, reveals Mr Yadav." We will add the lounges to the existing terminals as well,” he disclosed.
