Bhubaneswar: A couple of days after receiving the Odisha State Commission for Women’s (OSCW) letter, the State Transport Authority (STA) on Friday wrote to all Regional TransPort Officers to stop the bizarre practice of not letting women board buses as their first passenger.
“Permits are granted by STA / RTA to stage carriages on different routes to carry passengers on payment of bus fare as notified by this office. The owner or conductor of a stage carriage cannot deny any women as first passenger to enter into buses. Any deviation shall amount to violation of permit conditions and punishable under Section 192A of M.V. Act, 1988,” the STA wrote.
It has requested them to check stage carriages regularly and issue e-challan against owner/conductor of stage carriage under Section 192A of M.V. Act, 1988 and report compliance, if found denying women as first passenger to enter into bus.
The OSCW had brought the prevailing practice to the notice of Transport Commissioner cum Chairman Amitabh Thakur on July 26 . “In order to avoid future inconveniences to women passengers and protect their safety and dignity, it is requested to ensure that buses (both government and private) allow women as first passenger,” it wrote.
The women’s panel order came after it disposed a petition, filed by social activist Ghasiram Panda, which alleged that bus staffers in Odisha prevent women passengers from boarding the vehicle first, considering it to be a bad omen. The petitioner had cited an instance of a woman passenger being allegedly prevented from boarding a bus as the first passenger at Baramunda bus stand in Bhubaneswar.
The Commission observed that the irrational and discriminatory practice stemmed from the superstition that if a woman becomes the first passenger, the bus may meet with an accident or do bad business for the day.
It also suggested that the transport department reserve 50 per cent of the seats for women passengers.
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