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Women drivers: UPSRTC project hits procedural roadblock, only 3 to take the wheels this year
17 women bus drivers joined UPSRTC, but only 3 can drive this year due to licensing process. Others to work at workshops for stipend before driving.
While the first batch of 17 women bus drivers recently joined the UPSRTC roster on March 16, only three them will be able to showcase their driving skills this year.
These women, who hail from across Uttar Pradesh, were to be deployed by UPSRTC to commandeer inter-district buses. However, most of them need months to obtain licence to drive heavy vehicles.
SP Singh, a former principal of Model UPSRTC Driving Training and Research Institute in Kanpur, supervised the first batch of women trainees for most part of their 24-month-long training period. “I’m glad to have seen a project born during my term to success. While I retired in December, the girls officially completed their training on January 27.”
According to Singh, these women were issued learners’ licence for LMVs (light motor vehicles) during the training, which are to mature into permanent licences after a period of about six months. These licensees can only be issued licences for HMVs (heavy motor vehicles) after 12 months of obtaining the first. Now, one can only become a driver if they have held an HMV licence for more than 24 months (7 months of classroom and track training, and 17 months of workshop and on-the-job training).
“Only three women had proper licences before they began training, making them eligible for a driver’s role now,” explained Singh, “the other 14 girls still have several months left before they finally take the wheel.”
In the meantime, these 14 women will be working at UPSRTC workshops, familiarising themselves with the machinery and maintenance of buses, and driving short distances as required, but not carrying passengers. They will be working for a monthly stipend of Rs. 10,000.
The three who do have valid licences to drive heavy motor vehicles are Ved Kumari from Ghaziabad, Priyanka Kumari from Ghaziabad, and Sonu Malan from Aligarh. They are yet to receive their assignments but have been told that they will be sent on the road by the coming week. “We have gone through two years of training to be officially a government bus driver. I am nervous but very excited, too,” said Malan.
Kumari too had been waiting for the opportunity to not only drive the bus, but ferry passengers on her own responsibility for the first time. She said that while she did not get many opportunities to try the wheel during on-the-job training, she was confident of her skill and eager to start.
