Bhubaneswar: The Mo Bus service has around 50 per cent of its crew as female members, thus becoming the first gender-balanced service of the state.
Flagging off the much-awaited service, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said, “This bus service will have 50 per cent women crew who are passenger-friendly.”
The Mo Bus has features like in-vehicle CCTV cameras, adequate seats for women and senior citizens and deployment of women conductors. Very soon, 75 more buses will be added to the fleet and the crew will likely to have 50 per cent of women conductors.
Dipti Mahapatro, a CRUT official said, “We prefer to address the conductors as ‘bus guides’ and the drivers as ‘bus captains’. It makes them feel more empowered.” He opined that induction of women bus guides is a great step as they are more approachable and have more patience in dealing with passengers.
Since the bus fares will be collected through electronic ticket machines (ETMs) only, the women bus guides have been imparted the basic training.
“Currently, we have around 30-40 women bus guides but there is a target to cross the 100-mark and make the women force at least 50 per cent of the entire crew. This will happen slowly,” Mahapatro added.
Orissa POST interacted with a few women bus guides to fathom their excitement on the new bus service.
Rajani Bala Das, who was earlier working with Dream Team Sahara (a city-based public transport bus service), said safety and security of passengers will be the most important issue. “Ladies travelling by Mo Bus will feel more safe and secured as there will be more number of women conductors,” she added.
Likewise, Sugyani Baral, pointed out that the GPRS tracking in the buses which will automatically feed the public information system for public announcements will make the female commuters feel safe.
Lady conductor Renubala Pradhan said, “The CCTVs will ensure a safe environment. I hope this revolutionises the public transport scenario in the state capital.”