Women DTC bus drivers to hit Delhi roads soon
40 of them undergoing training at Burari
New Delhi, April 2 (Delhi Crown): Women are raring to break yet another glass ceiling, as 40 of them would soon be seen driving Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) and Cluster buses on Delhi roads.
According to Delhi’s Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot, these 40 women are presently undergoing one-month training at the DTC Training Institute at Burari in North Delhi.
“We have started giving them bus-driving training. They possess Heavy Motor Vehicle (HMV) licenses. Now the day isn’t far when women would rub shoulders with men in driving DTC and Cluster buses,” said the minister in a tweet.
The fleet of buses in Delhi has risen to 7003, as claimed by Dy. Chief Minister Manish Sisodia in his budget speech in Delhi Assembly last week.
Earlier, minister Kailash Gahlot was quoted as saying that the Delhi Government has not only relaxed the eligibility criteria, but also ensured that women are provided free training at the Driving Training Institute, Burari.
No educational qualification is needed for both men and women drivers, but the driver should have basic knowledge to understand the signs and marks on the road. Delhi’s transport department has also reduced the experience criteria from five years to three years.
Now, as per the revised requirement criteria, there is no prior experience required to apply for the DTC driver job. But the appointment of women driver should have one mandatory condition. i.e. minimum one month training followed by a test conducted by the training institute, Burari, needs to be passed.
It has also been decided that after the one-month training test at private centre, the prospective woman drivers also have to undergo two months in-house training conducted by DTC and it will issue a skill certificate.
“The DTC will work as the certification agency in imparting skill test to all heavy passenger vehicle drivers,” a DTC official was quoted as saying.