She chose to leap off, injuring her right arm and ankle to ensure her safety from the driver of the gramin seva (rural service) van, a preferred mode of transport in the low-income suburbs of India’s capital. Travelling more than 7 km from an office in Okhla Phase I in southern Delhi to her home in Dakshinpuri, the shared van–Rs 5 per ride versus a minimum of Rs 10 per km for an auto–was the only reliable and affordable transport option for Sheela, in a city with 3,900 buses and an 8-line, 373-km metro-rail network.

Sheela is one of many women who navigate risks on the streets of Delhi while going about their daily activities. The recent announcement by the Delhi Chief Minister, Arvind Kejriwal, to make metro and bus rides free for women in the city, has key implications for women’s mobility, which, in turn, is linked to decisions about education, employment and access to public spaces.

Contrary to the expectation that women in urban areas get more employment opportunities, the data show that India’s female labour force participation rate in cities is lower than in rural areas. In the metropolis of Delhi–inhabited by more than 19 million people and teeming with malls, cafes and towering office blocks–no more than 11.7% of women above the age of 15 years are in employment, compared to the national average of 27%.

Wife with toddler walks, husband takes motorcycle
In my research on women and service work in Delhi, young women seeking work raised concerns over safety, accessibility and affordability of public transport. Take the case of 29-year-old Sushma*, a car driver.

After she got married and moved to Delhi from a village in Rajasthan, Sushma was keen to study further and find employment. She had heard about driver-training classes for women and told her husband that she wanted to sign up. However, her in-laws discouraged her, telling Sushma that her place was at home.

Sushma told me their attitude was “a big problem”. They did not give her money to travel, and her husband handed over his salary to his mother.

“I had to always ask her for money,” said Sushma, who completed Class XII after marriage. “From Sangam Vihar, I used to walk all the way to Kalkaji [6 km]. That’s how I’ve made it in this line… If I hadn’t worked this hard, we wouldn’t be here today.”

Sushma attributed her willingness to walk for over an hour to attend driving classes every day to her stubbornness and her desire to do something with her life. Now employed as a driver, Sushma has become a breadwinner for her family.

Similarly, Rama*, 24 years old, told me that she always wanted to “do more” with her life. A community worker for a non-government organisation, Rama, with toddler in hand, commutes 90 minutes each way (12 km), partly on foot and partly on buses from Badarpur near the Faridabad border to Khirki Extension in south Delhi, five days a week.

Although the city’s metro network now extends to Badarpur, Rama says she cannot afford travelling by metro or taking an auto to the bus stop. So, she walks to the bus stop, takes two buses to save a Rs 40 a day auto fare. “I can’t afford that,” said Rama. “So, I leave early. It takes 20-25 minutes with a child to walk–on my own it could be quicker.”

Rama’s husband, a factory worker in Okhla, travels by motorbike. Rama and her husband bought the bike on a loan that they are now paying back through instalments from both their salaries.

Transport is a gender issue
The experiences of women like Sheela, Sushma and Rama, attempting to secure emerging employment opportunities, highlight how the issue of public transport is specifically a gender issue.

While some have criticised the offer of free public transport for women as discriminatory against (working class) men, Kejriwal himself drew attention to the problem of women’s safety.

Sheela jumped off the moving gramin sewa van because she felt unsafe as a lone female passenger. The increased presence of women on public transport will contribute towards making it friendlier for women.

However, the intensified need for reliable public transport for women is not limited to the issue of safety.

Women’s mobility is also restricted by families through financial control, as was the case for Sushma. Further, even when women are able to argue for their mobility, they are likely to have to rely on the cheapest public transport or walk. Men like Rama’s husband, on the other hand, may be able to use motorbikes if their families can afford it.

It is also not uncommon for women workers to have to take children with them to work, given that domestic and caring responsibilities fall disproportionately on women.

Last-mile connectivity
The move to remove cost barriers will improve women’s access to transport and thus to employment, education and public spaces. However, alongside making metro and bus journeys free, there is a need to focus on last-mile connectivity to and from metro stations, particularly the reach and reliability of feeder services, such as the gramin sewa, into Delhi’s low-income neighbourhoods.

In my research with young women who live in Dakshinpuri and Khanpur (south Delhi), I found that the gramin sewa was the most common mode of transport. It was introduced in 2010 to reach the urban villages of Delhi, where services of Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) buses are limited. Although the gramin sewa is not necessarily the most reliable and efficient mode of transport, women use it because it is cheaper than autos, as I noted earlier, and gets them home.

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has announced “multi-modal integration” at 61 metro stations to make available more transport options at metro stations, whether by e-rickshaws, autos, or cabs, by providing them with parking spaces.

While this will ensure better accessibility to the metro network, the costs, reach and reliability of such feeder services can still obstruct women’s access to public transport.

Pranjali*, who found work as a financial assistant in a small office after finishing Class XII, told me how she had to do “up-down every day, in so much rush”.

Minimising the costs of doing such “up-down” every day by providing direct and affordable transport can be a step towards addressing the problems women face in seeking, entering and retaining employment, and, if successful, serve as a model for other Indian cities.
*All names have been changed to ensure anonymity.

(Islam is a PhD researcher at the University of Cambridge.)

Courtesy: India Spend
 

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A Shiv Sena corporator has proposed to the civic body that old BEST buses be used as mobile toilets ostensibly for use of commuters caught in traffic jams. This is extremely insulting by any standards.This is especially because the municipal corporation has an appalling record of doing its basic duty to provide public urinals and latrines to citizens all over the metropolis. And suddenly they trot out the excuse of commuters caught in traffic jams. The jams are actually caused by the government’s own inefficiency and failure to curb cars lording over roads and grabbing most of the space.

So the move is seen as a deliberate affront to people. This is obvious but became more obvious when one heard a speakers at a symposium on sanitation organized by the Urban Design Research Institute at Rachana Sansad architecture college in Mumbai on February 14. One heard appalling stories from about civic insanitation and these came not from activists whom the government is quick to condemn as negative in outlook. These came from highly placed people working in organisations like Tata Trusts and Aga Khan Trust.

The anti-BEST move would further lower the image of the once reputed public service organization. This in sharp contrast to the constant image building of cars done by the automobile lobby extolling cars for their design, for giving freedom and status. The aesthetic of cars is constantly extolled and is illustrated by the title of this book `Cars – freedom, style, sex, power, motion, colour, everything.” The book is written by Stephen Bayley, a prominent art critic and a defender of colonialism.

So the move to associate a public utility body with filth is reprehensible. Occasionally, in few places buses have been used as toilets, but to use a an acclaimed public transport bus has offensive connotations.

Such attack on public transport is obviously driven by the automobile lobby’s fear over worldwide sales slowing down and the appeal of the car is dwindling among the young. So the idea is to downgrade, ridicule public transport. Kill road public transport as was systematically done in the U.S. so that you get more buyers for cars, that is obviously the game plan.

The assault on BEST has also to be seen against the background of the automotive mission plan devised jointly by the government of India and automobile manufacturers with a determination to triple industry revenues and expand exports seven fold.

It shows the cosy relationship of the government with the automobile industry. Has one ever heard of the government ever collaborating with public bus or train commuters or pedestrians and evolved a plan in their interest. That would be a compelling part of any democratic framework. Yet, not only such dialogues are not held, even written submissions and requests for appointments with government, civic officials, sent by selfless activists are treated with contempt, not even replied to.

So, it is crystal clear. The government is seen to be a close ally of the automobile lobby and is hostile to the interests of common people.

It is against the background of a deliberate humiliation of BEST and is users that a public hearing on the current crisis in BEST is to be held on first of March in Mumbai Marathi Patrakar Sangh, opposite the BMC headquarters building, near CST. When the Supreme Court ruled in 2016 against BEST’s cross subsidy scheme (through which an electricity division running in surplus financed the transport division’s deficit), many expected that the city’s municipal corporation (MCGM) would fund BEST. However, MCGM denied BEST funds, claiming that it was “inefficient” and that BEST would have to implement a package of reforms before it could receive funding. Over the past several years, due to paucity of funds, BEST services have declined precariously. While the MCGM has declined to fund BEST, it has embarked on building a Rs 15,000-crore coastal road whose use will be restricted almost solely to private transport users of the city. On the midnight of 7 th January, BEST workers went on an indefinite strike, demanding, among other things, the merger of the BEST’s budget with the MCGM’s own budget, so as to assure BEST of a steady flow of funding. The strike ended with most of the issues being referred to a court-appointed mediator, with the aim of bringing them to a negotiated resolution. The strike brought to the fore once again the vital role of BEST in the city’s transport system. Aamchi Mumbai Aamchi BEST is a citizens’ forum fighting for a publicly owned, affordable, accessible and decent bus transport in the city. The organization believes that every resident of this city has a right to a public transport system with all of the aforementioned qualities, and that the city needs it for its physical, economic and social health. It is with this understanding that over the past year and a half AMAB has been campaigning in various parts of the city in various forms. The public hearing is meant to bring together individual commuters and organizations from different parts of the city, document their experiences with public transport, trace the root causes of the present crisis, and to find solutions which are pro-people and sustainable. The individuals/representatives of organizations who wish to provide testimonies of their experiences have been invited to do so in front of a five-member panel at the public hearing: ● Justice Hosbet Suresh (Retd., Bombay High Court), Chairman of the panel. ● Nikhil Wagle, Journalist ● Zubeida Sayyed, Housing Rights’ Activist (Committee for Right to Housing) ● R. Ramakumar, Economist (TISS) ● D. Parthasarathy, Sociologist (IIT Bombay). The panel would prepare a report and present it to the public.

Mumbai’s municipal commissioner Ajoy Mehta has been most vocal in denying budgetary support to the BEST though BEST is an inseparable part of civic governance and civic life. His arguments are most unconvincing. It is true, BEST drastically needs to improve its efficiency. It is not even able to handle the , simple ,new technology of automatic announcements of next bus stops in buses. I notice that completely wrong, misleading announcements are made about the next destination. There is a basic problem with the instruments and the driver on the bus needs to set things right.So BEST must take various steps to improve its image, functioning. But to a great degree the municipal and government poliices have resulted in the crippling of the BEST undertaking.

More importantly about Mr Mehta’s arguments about efficiency and losses targeting public sector and he wants to privatise the bus service. . Let me give an example from the automobile sector and private sector itself. The Tatas is , one of the most efficient private sector groups but its company Tata Motors has suffered what is seen as the biggest loss in Indian corporate history estimated at Rs. 26,000 crore. That is the latest report of quarterly operations. The shares of Tata Motors have tumbled by thirty per cent in the last one week.

Similarly, another Tata venture, Nano car production has come to a halt. It was internationally hailed as a great innovation.

All these losses of Nano have occurred despite a virtually interest free loan of Rs. Nine thousand crore given by Gujarat govt when Mr Modi was the chief minister, plus numerous other concessions regarding land, water etc.

The point is that even efficient companies can make losses and one of the reasons is market conditions are beyond the control. Tata Motors losses are because of a steep fall in demand in China for Jaguar and other cars.

Not a single nano has been manufactured or sold in the last few months. All this is on record.

Besides, if Mr Modi could give such concessions to Tatas for a car, why should not the Maharashtra state government evolve a mechanism to give subsidy to BEST which is crucial for the lives of lakhs of people, it is so close to their lives, memories. Surely, public transport deserves far more subsidy than a private car. But all indications are that the government is friendly with the motor lobby and not with the common people.

The current assault on public transport and is users coincides with the car lobby, in India, represented by the Western India Automobile Association, celebrating its centenary earlier this month with a brazen display of high powered new car models and motor cycles, making a deafening noise, along with vintage cars at a motor car show at Bandra Kurla complex where no ordinary mortal could enter. The entry fee was Rs. 300. It is hardly surprising that this area has very poor connectivity by public transport with suburban railway stations of Kurla and Bandra, focal points for commuters.

Vidyadhar Date is a senior journalist and author of a book that demands democratisation of transport and opposes the dominance of the automobile lobby

Courtesy: https://countercurrents.org/
 

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Across urban (47%) and rural (40%) areas, young girls reported feeling more susceptible to molestation or abuse while using public transport, said the report, Wings 2018: World Of India’s Girls, released by Save The Children in India, an international non-governmental organisation. This finding was particularly true for girls from higher income groups (53%), belonging to the other backward classes (OBC) and general castes (45%), according to the study
 
Girls from medium and small towns (51%) reported feeling more unsafe than those in large cities (44%), small villages (42%) and large villages (39%).
 
“A possible reason [for greater fear among adolescent girls of higher income groups] could be that these girls lead a more cocooned life without the required level of resilience and therefore feel relatively more threatened,” the study said.
 
India is considered to be the least safe country in the world for women with the worst record for sexual violence, harassment from cultural and traditional practices, and human trafficking, according to a global perception poll carried out by Thomson Reuters Foundation, IndiaSpend reported on June 26, 2018. A failure to improve conditions led to the country now ranking the most dangerous for women, after it ranked fourth in the previous poll of 2011.
 
Conducted across six states–Assam, Delhi-National Capital Region, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana and West Bengal–the adolescent girls’ perception report covers the east, west, north, south, central and north-east of India, surveying across 30 cities and 84 villages in 12 districts. The sample included 3,128 adolescent girls, 1,141 young men (aged 15-18), 248 young women (aged 19-22) forced to marry early, and 842 parents of adolescent girls.
 
Within their respective regions, the selected states performed worst on child sex ratio; incidence of crime against women; early marriage; spousal violence against women; and working women, the report said.
 
After public transportation, narrow roads leading to school, local markets or private tuition were regarded as most unsafe. Young women belonging to scheduled castes (SC) and scheduled tribes (ST) from lower income households found these areas particularly unsafe.
 
Over a quarter of young women from large cities (28%), especially those from low income groups and slums, said they felt unsafe in cinema halls, the study found.
 
“A plausible explanation for this could be that these girls from the slums or the economically weaker section fear that their complaints may go unheard in a place occupied by the relatively better placed–class wise and caste wise,” the study observed. “Maybe for similar reasons, SC and ST girls find the school and the road to the school more unsafe compared to general caste and OBC girls.”
 
Girls least likely to report molestation/abuse to police or teachers
 
In urban and rural areas, girls reported feeling most comfortable confiding in their mother, father, close friends and peers, if subjected to molestation or abuse in public. They were less likely to confide in siblings and other relatives and least likely to approach teachers, other school staff and the local police.
 
“Besides, adolescent girls, their parents and brothers felt that finally it is the ‘name’ of the family and the girl which will be negatively affected–providing an iteration of ‘family honour’ that accompanies girls and women,” the report observed, describing a “trust deficit” with policing and judicial systems.
 
“Most of them were against going to the police because they (the police) were considered insensitive. It is also perceived that the process involves lot of time and resources and, in the end, damages the reputation of the girl.”
 
Girls avoided confiding in families because they feared restrictions on leaving home; this was more in urban (49%) than rural (36%) areas.
 
The second-most reported reason for not confiding in their families was fear of retribution, the report found; 44% of urban adolescent girls and 38% rural girls felt they would be scolded for “letting” themselves be harrassed.

 
 
Over 50% of parents agreed that they would “probably end up scolding their daughters” for “letting” sexual harassment occur, while 42% admitted they were likely to regulate their daughters’ movement in public spaces thereafter, the study found.
 
Less than half of India’s girls leave home to meet friends, take morning walks, play in parks
 
Generally, more urban than rural young girls and women used public spaces, the report said.
 
For urban and rural areas, “going to school” was the most universally accepted safe public space (96%) for girls, the study found. Attending private tuition–significantly higher for urban (54%) than rural (32%) residents–followed.
 
After public transportation, local markets, private tuitions or roads leading to school were regarded as most unsafe among young girls, as we said.
 
Less than half of adolescent girls in urban areas (41%) could go out to meet friends; in rural areas, no more than a third of girls (34%) could.
 
Among adolescent girls surveyed in urban areas, only a fifth or 20% felt they could safely play in a public park or go for a morning walk; no more than 15% of girls in rural areas felt similarly.

 
 
Young girls also perceived a higher risk of molestation and other gender-related crimes at crowded public places, such as local markets in urban (41%) and rural areas (37%).
 
Here too, young women from higher and middle-economic classes (42%), belonging to the OBC/general castes (40%), reported a higher perception of risk.
 
Despite the fear of narrow roads leading to schools, private tuitions and markets, over 80% of young girls preferred walking to these public areas than using public transport, the study found. Cycling also emerged as a popular choice among adolescent girls in small and medium towns, where traffic is lower and perception of risk in using public transport was highest, as we said.
 
“The sample selected was not representative of a pan-India picture but aimed to assist studying in depth the prevailing perceptions on the issue of safety of girls in public spaces, the related dynamics and implications,” the report said.
 
(Saldanha is an assistant editor with IndiaSpend.)

Courtesy: India Spend
 

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