Women set to man two UP railway stations

KANPUR: In a first in UP, the state will soon have two railway stations with only women managing its affairs.

An initiative of North Central Railway (NCR) of the Indian railways, two stations identified for the project are Govindpuri in Kanpur and Bamrauli in Allahabad, both on Howrah-Delhi route.

“The move is aimed at spreading the message of women empowerment. In case the experiment proves to be successful, more railway stations will be handed over to women to run the show,” said SK Pankaj, divisional railway manager, Allahabad.

“The women staff members will work in three shifts. Women police constables will also be posted at these two railway stations to handle the security issues,” said Pankaj.

“They will be expected to handle each and every day to day operation like ticket booking and rail navigation at these stations,” said Pankaj.

Govindpuri railway station has total staff strength of 11 people while 24 trains have stoppages here.

In Bamrauli, only four trains stop every day and a 12 staff members are posted here.

These two railway stations have one post each for Government Railway Police (GRP). Here too women staff will be posted.

“It is wonderful to see the positive changes the railways are bringing in. An all women show at two stations is apparently a first in Uttar Pradesh. It is a heart-warming gesture and hopefully more stations will be given to women to run,” said Neelam Chaturvedi, a women right activist.

At present, only one fullfledged railway station —Gandhinagar in Jaipur — is being managed exclusively by the women staff. About 20 female officers are posted there.

In addition, a local railway station of Matunga in Mumbai has all women staff.