New Delhi: Keen to enrol women drivers in its fleet, Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) recently relaxed some of its rules. This has benefited 30-year-old Vankudothu Saritha, who has become the first woman to drive a bus for Delhi’s public transporter.
Saritha was born in Sithyathananda village, Vaillapalli in Nalgonda district, in what is now Telangana. A single woman, she passed her Class 10 and has written a new chapter in the history of DTC, which had 243 women conductors, but no woman driver.
In order to recruit women drivers in the corporation, DTC decided to go lenient on qualification requirements for women applicants in the hiring procedure.
The DTC, on average, needs over 12,000 drivers daily for its 5,500 strong fleet. Currently it has only 8,544 men on the rolls as drivers and another 4,500 working on contract. The addition of Saritha, the lone woman driver is seen as the beginning of a new era. Officials are hopeful that seeing Saritha in action, other women might get inspired to follow her footsteps.
Incidentally, she already possessed a heavy motor vehicle licence, but out of a dozen women applicants, was the only one who cleared all tests and trained according to the corporation’s own module.
Saritha has been currently posted at Sarojini Nagar depot in south Delhi and ferries passengers in an AC bus. No night duties are given to women in DTC.
Seeing her dream of driving a bus being fulfilled, she says, “I hope to help my parents, who despite being poor farmers with five daughters gave us good education. While two of my sisters are married, I want to help my parents financially and see the other two siblings settle in life.”
Dressed in jeans and a shirt, with short-cropped hair, Saritha says, “I pass off as a man and many times go unnoticed. My father did not have a son, so he raised me like a son.”
She speaks to Gulf News.
How has been the experience of driving a DTC bus?
Driving a bus is a unique and exciting experience. Though manoeuvring it is not difficult, but since the length of these low-floor buses is quite long, the only aspect one has to be careful is not to hurt anyone. And I have made a promise to restrict myself to a speed of 40km/h. Driving is a passion and once I sit on the driver’s seat, I forget all worries and my entire concentration is focused on driving. After the training I have realised that driving in Delhi requires a lot of patience and alertness, as cycle rickshaws and motorcyclists tend to suddenly come in front of the bus. Having driven a bus in all parts of the city, I am humbled by the adulation I am getting from the passengers.
What rules have been relaxed by DTC to make way for women drivers?
It decided to train women applicants having just a commercial Light Motor Vehicle (LMV) licence to drive a bus for six months and thereafter help them get Heavy Motor Vehicle (HMV) licence from the transport department. For men applying for the post of a DTC driver, possession of a HMV driving licence and three years experience of driving a bus is a precondition. Also, while the age limit for men is 35 years, in the case of women, she should not be older than 40 years. According to the rules, a woman applicant should have a minimum height of 1.6 metres to drive a DTC bus, which has a passenger-carrying capacity from 55 to 70 persons.
How mechanically savvy are you?
During the time of training we are taught certain mechanisms about maintenance and are advised to check the breaks, battery, compressed gas and doors of the bus before each trip. The good thing about these low-floor buses is that if the breaks fail, the lock system makes the vehicle immovable. For the vacuum system, the expert maintenance staff has to be summoned. Since I alone do not drive a particular bus, as a rule, I also inspect if the other driver has not damaged the vehicle!
Since when have you been driving?
I know how to ride a scooter and a motorcycle. And in 2005, when there was no woman auto rickshaw driver anywhere in the country, I used to drive from village Vaillapalli to Chotupal in Telangana. The four to five trips to-and-fro meant a daily driving for over 300km. Initially, the passengers would look at me awestruck, but over the time got used to it. But the autorickshaw drivers, instead of motivating, often harassed me. They would extort money from me, leaving me with no savings.
Was there any stressful situation that tested your driving skills?
One day, while I was at the wheel, another autorickshaw driver, driving in a zig-zag manner tried to overtake me. Trying to show-off, he was over-speeding and had an accident with another vehicle. I stopped my auto and first assisted the accident victims. And then went to the driver and gave him one tight slap. Seeing this, some passengers from his auto, who claimed they had been warning him not to drive recklessly, also joined in and beat him up. This lesson sobered him and he always behaved thereafter.
When did you acquire the heavy motor licence for driving?
I got that a decade back in Hyderabad, Telangana in 2008. I had trained for it, but the licensing officer refused to believe me. He agreed to issue the licence only if I was able to drive a mini bus. I did. And he not only appreciated me, but also happily gave me the licence! Around that time I came to know that Hyderabad Transport Corporation was recruiting drivers and applied. But I was not given the opportunity despite clearing all tests. I was rejected twice because I was a woman and continued to drive the autorickshaw.
So, what was your next move?
In 2010, I enrolled myself to train in the Indian Army. Six months into the training, I had to leave, as my father fell sick and I had to be by his side to look after him. It was a sad decision, but I have always felt very strongly about my duty towards my parents.
And then?
I began driving a minibus for a nursing college and would drive nurses to the hospital daily. The routine went on for over a year, without any hitch.
How and when did you come to Delhi?
The director of NGO Azad Foundation was keen on launching cabs with women drivers in Hyderabad, but when things did not work there, she moved to Delhi and took me along. I was given six months training to drive a car. Thereafter, with her reference, I worked as a private chauffeur, driving a BMW and other high-end vehicles for a family in south Delhi at a monthly salary of Rs12,000 (Dh696). My employer was a working woman, with three children and my duty was to drop and pick up the children from school and drive them down for sports activities. The lady was very supportive and treated me well, often paying me extra every month.
So, what made you leave that job?
There is always an insecurity attached to a private job and I had been hoping for a permanent job due to family compulsions. Expecting a better deal from DTC, I applied for the driver’s job and couldn’t believe it when I passed all tests and was among the five women chosen along with scores of men. However, the other women failed the minimum height criteria and I was the only one to train as driver with 40 men.
What kind of support have you got from the officers and staff of DTC?
I feel fortunate to reach where I am. From day one, each and every person I have come across in DTC, has been very encouraging. From its chief managing director Debashree Mukherjee to public relations officer R.S. Minhas and from my immediate boss Parvesh Sharma to training officer Shankar and all my colleagues have appreciated my efforts and never discriminated against me. During the training period, we were given Rs6,000 per month as stipend. Now that I am on the job, I will draw Rs18,000 for a month and then a fixed salary of Rs22,000 monthly. The amount will solve a lot of our family problems.
