Namma Metro's initiative of allocating the first two doors of every train for women has clocked a week. The response has been encouraging, but confusion reigns.
When women demand seats near the two doors, men passengers react by saying 'announcement only says two doors are allocated for women and not any seats'.
The men are right. The idea is just to give women easy access to the coach, and not to reserve the coach for them, Metro officials say.
U A Vasanth Rao, Chief Public Relations Officer explains, "The entry into the train is itself a challenge for most women."
A regular commuter, Keerthana Prakash says, "I don't understand the rationale behind reserving doors for women and not an entire coach."
For her, travelling in packed compartments with men is definitely an uncomfortable experience.
"This new initiative does not bring about a change in this situation," she says.
Jasmine Varghese, another regular on the Metro, says, "Since I change my train at Majestic, I have to walk back a longer distance from the first coach to catch my next train."
She says she is now missing her train, and waiting a good seven to eight minutes for the next train.
Sensitising men is what the Metro authorities are suggesting.
Vasanth Rao says, "We have not blocked seats, but we have allocated the first two doors to women. If a man or a senior citizen come and sit, we cannot stop them. Perhaps what women should do is to sensitise men."
Hey coach!
Each Metro train will have a coach exclusively for women once more coaches are introduced. Officials expect the coaches to arrive by May.