‘Have separate ticket counters for women’

Every time Ayesha Amdani, 31, queues up to buy a local train ticket at Andheri station she maintains a safe distance from the man standing behind her in the line to avoid getting pinched.

Every time Ayesha Amdani, 31, queues up to buy a local train ticket at Andheri station she maintains a safe distance from the man standing behind her in the line to avoid getting pinched.

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On Tuesday, when a Shiv Sena women’s wing member approached Amdani at Andheri station to sign a petition asking railway minister Mamata Banerjee to set up separate tickets windows for women, she readily obliged. “A separate ticket counter will definitely reduce the risk of any misbehaviour by a man,” said the Andheri resident.

Shiv Sena members picked Women’s Day to initiate a signature campaign outside Andheri station to garner support for their demand for a dedicated ticket counter for women passengers at all railway stations starting with Mumbai.

“A separate ticket counter will address the problem of men misbehaving with women and also reduce the time women have to stand in queue to buy tickets,” said Rajul Patel, Sena corporator from Oshiwara. She added that the party plans to take the petition to the Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC).

In January, a party representatives wrote to Banerjee and the MRVC chairman asking for a separate ticket window for women. They got a reply from the ministry stating that separate booking counters for women would not be feasible due to overcrowding at the ticket counters.