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Traffic marshal scheme: Women lead the way, help ease Ludhiana’s traffic woes
Anyone who can devote a few hours a day is free to join as a marshal
In a bid to spread traffic awareness and help cops streamline the movement of vehicles on the busy roads of Ludhiana, as many as 35 women from the city have come forward to volunteer as traffic marshals.
Of these 35 women, 90% are college students, most of them in their early 20s. Four women are above the age of 40.
Twenty-year-old Simran Kaur, a resident of Basti Jodhewal, who is one of the traffic marshals, says she decided to join the team so she could contribute her bit for the welfare of the society. “My grandfather Piyara Singh was a civil defence volunteer. He worked for the betterment of the society. I wanted to do something like that so when I came to know about this project, I jumped at the opportunity,” she said.
Another woman traffic marshal Jyoti Rana, 20, a resident of Giaspura, who was seen guiding a pedestrian about the use of zebra crossing at Bharat Nagar Chowk on Saturday, said, “Today, it is my first day. I had applied for becoming a traffic marshal a week ago and now I will be providing my service from 10am to 1pm at the Chowk,” she said.
Rana, who is an NCC cadet at Satguru Ram Singh Government Polytechnic College for Girls, Ludhiana, added that women marshals like her can help spread awareness among youngsters. “It has been observed that many youngsters do not follow traffic rules. Women riders do not wear helmets while riding two-wheeler vehicles. So, being a girl, if we will guide them, it will definitely make a difference,” she says, flaunting a traffic marshal band on her hand.
Another student from her college, Gagandeep Kaur, also an NSS volunteer, says, “Many residents don’t like being told to do something. “However, as a traffic marshal it is our responsibility to guide them and create awareness. By serving as traffic marshals, we will not just be serving the society but also helping ourselves become more disciplined,” she said.
WHAT IS THE SCHEME
The scheme was launched in the city on Republic Day, wherein as many as 336 residents were deployed as traffic marshals at 28 road intersection points in the city. The traffic police aims to deploy as many as 2,000 of such marshals in all to ease the flow of traffic. Anyone between 20 and 62 years of age, who can devote three hours a day are free to join as marshals.
100 MORE WOMEN SET TO JOIN SOON
Mandeep Keshav, in charge of the Ludhiana traffic marshals, said the number of such volunteers is set to touch 450 as over 100 women from Khalsa College for Women, Ludhiana, will be joining in the coming week.
“These college students have already been trained and will be deployed at Rani Jhansi Road from Fountain Chowk to Aarti Chowk. Six panels comprising 15 women each will be formed, who would be volunteering for around an hour between 12pm to 2pm,” he said.
He added, “As we are targeting to involve at least 2,000 marshals, we are approaching schools, colleges and non-government organisations. We have also written to schools to name 60 students of Class 10, 11 and 12 and two teachers to manage the rush on their campus during opening and closing time.”
