MSRTC to make women passengers feel secure

Mumbai: The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) Tuesday said if a woman complained of harassment in a bus, the driver would take it straight to a police station.

"If there is a complaint from a woman passenger about harassment, indecent behaviour or molestation by male passengers, the conductor will order the bus to be driven directly to the nearest police station," an MSRTC official said here. The move comes after the recent Supreme Court observation asking the public sector transport to protect women passengers in the wake of the brutal gang-rape and death of a 23-year-old woman in New Delhi in December 2012. The directive came into effect immediately Tuesday in all the 17,000 MSRTC buses that, making 84,000 trips daily, ferry over eight million passengers everyday in the state. An official spokesperson said that although instances of harassment on MSRTC buses have been rare, the move would help women passengers feel more secure while travelling in buses. PTI