Gender sensitisation training for BMTC staff

The Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) is all set to impart gender sensitisation training to its conductors and drivers. The move, though in the pipeline, comes a week after a driver-cum-conductor misbehaved with a woman passenger on board a BMTC bus.

The incident had brought to the fore the vulnerability of women passengers and the high-handedness of the bus staff in dealing with situations that otherwise require sensitivity.

The decision to impart the training comes after the recommendation of the BMTC Women Passengers’ Safety Committee in one of its recent meetings.

The training that starts on April 2 will continue for a month and every day 200 conductors, conductor-cum-drivers and drivers will attend sessions in two batches on dealing with female passengers, dealing with female passengers in distress and so on.

BMTC has roped in members of NGOs, the police, officials from the Department of Women and Child Welfare and women counsellors as resource persons. A syllabus pertaining to the teaching module has also been prepared for the training.

The BMTC Women Passengers’ Safety Committee was formed in December-January, comprising 13 members with G Ramesh, BMTC Director (Security and Vigilance), as its chairman.

From now on, it will be mandatory for all the new recruits to undergo this training. And for those in service, it will be an annual affair with periodical refresher courses.

Speaking with Deccan Herald, Anjum Parvez, Managing Director, BMTC, said, “This has been in the pipeline for a very long time and finally it has come through now. This training is going to be more of an awareness activity for our staff and the resource persons have also been chosen accordingly to sensitise the staff about women safety, dealing with female passengers, etc,” he added.

On March 17, a female passenger allegedly jumped out of a moving BMTC bus to avoid a molestation bid on her by the driver-cum-conductor. 

The incident had sent shockwaves across the City and the driver-cum-conductor, who also had other complaints against him, was dismissed from service.