Bhongir: New Era Begins At TGSRTC With Woman Driver
With over a decade of experience behind the wheel, Saritha brings with her 10 years of professional driving experience from the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC).
Hyderabad: In a major win for the women, the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TGSRTC) has started recruiting women for the position of bus drivers, a post reserved for men till now.
V. Saritha is the first woman driver, who will drive an electric super luxury bus between Miryalaguda and Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station in Hyderabad, covering a distance of 288 kilometres in a round trip.
Saritha has driven CNG-run bus in Delhi for 10 years.
“I got my driving licence in 2004. At that time, during the Congress government, the then Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy introduced a scheme under which I got a seven-seater auto. I was driving that auto at Choutuppal. In 2007, there was a heavy vehicle training school at Nacharam, where I got trained and got the licence for heavy vehicles. Later, I left for Delhi as there were better opportunities.”
As her parents are old, she returned to the state. “I am thankful to the state government for giving me this opportunity,” she said.
On the difficulty of driving a bus for long distances, Saritha said the roads of Telangana are smooth as silk. “The driving is quite easy from Miryalaguda to Hyderabad, with around three stops in between. While I was driving in Delhi for about a decade, it was more about navigating narrow lanes and congested roads. My usual trips were from Delhi to Gurgaon, Noida, etc.”
“As a woman, people had doubts about whether I could do this. But I had confidence in myself and I never gave up. I am lucky that people supported me at every point in life,” she explained.
Saritha belongs to Sitya Thanda, Narayanapuram mandal, Yadadri Bhuvanagiri district. “We are six siblings in all. I am the fifth. All four elder sisters are married. I have one younger brother.”
Saritha is unmarried and passionate about driving. After the induction of Saritha as the debut female bus driver, several women could take up bus driving as a profession.
Jonni Reddy, regional manager, Nalgonda, TGSRTC, said, “She went through training for two days and was posted as a co-driver. On Saturday, she was given charge as a driver.”
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, Saritha said, “I approached roads and buildings minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy and transport minister Ponnam Prabhakar last month, following which they provided the allotment based on merit.”
This aligns with the goals of Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, who introduced the Mahalakshmi scheme — free bus travel for women in the state, to recruit women bus drivers.
