Women to man busy Matunga station
new delhi — The Central Railways has announced that the busy Matunga station on the Central Line will be manned by women. Matunga is the first Indian railway station to go all-women.
Matunga is a relatively well to do suburb of Mumbai. Until the recent past, it used to be a South Indian stronghold. The place was famous for South Indian food and festivals. But of late, the demography has changed and now wealthy Gujaratis have moved in large numbers into Matunga.
Matunga is located right in the heart of Mumbai city. The station was built in 1865. But none at that time would have anticipated that one day, women would run the station. From ticket counters to security staff, women have taken over; the station master is also a woman, reports NDTV.
“In my career spanning 25 years with the Railways, I never thought of working with an all-women staff,” Mamta Kulkarni, the first woman station master, was quoted as saying. She joined the Central Railway in 1992.
The women are learning on the job. The women ticket inspectors had some problems initially handling men who would not take them seriously. But that has quickly changed, and the female staff have adopted a professional approach that the males have no option but respect their authority.
Altogether, it is a 30-member crew at the station. This includes 11 booking clerks, five Railway Police Personnel and seven ticket checkers. The rest work in various other departments. Among them is
In my career spanning 25 years with the railways, I never thought of working with an all-women staff Mamta Kulkarni, the first woman station master
Kirti Kothane, who has never attended accident victims before. Close to 2,500 commuters a year fall off Mumbai’s local trains and die. Kothane now has to take care of that unpleasant job.
The railway authorities said Matunga was part of a women-empowerment strategy, and that in the near future more stations are likely chug along in the direction of women.