Now with the Delhi Gang-rape case, the true condition of Indian women has been opened up to the world.
Unfortunately, neither is this rare nor does such incident occur only in isolation. Every day tens of thousands of females travel through buses and even if 1 percent of them face any kinds of molestation, the figure says that 10 out of every 1000 female travelling in Delhi alone are exposed to such hideous act. The US based organisation, One-In-Four, surveyed on this issue and shockingly 19%-28% of college going females report rape or attempted rape in several country (The unreported figure may be even higher!)
The present case in Delhi, not only calls for stricter laws but also new ways to prevent them from happening ever again, 'ergo the PINK BUS SERVICE: of the women, for the women, by the women.
As the name suggests, this would be an ONLY FEMALE bus service that would have female drivers and conductors.
Features:
• Assured safety
• Most importantly this would give a sense of belongingness to the females which lacks in our country right now.
• More economical than Cabs for individual.
• Fuel saving, which would in-turn save foreign currency.
• Eco-friendly as the number of vehicles on road will reduce
• Female employment generation
• Less pressure of traffic on roads
As being a law student, once every year me and my other college mates spend at least a month in Delhi and as a female I can vouch for it that, had such service been given earlier, the present case and many more could have been prevented. And I personally believe all the females and Honorable CM Sheila Dixit would comply to my sentiments. Although by taking this initiative Madam Dixit, your government may loose a little revenue but more importantly you will gain the confidence of females and win their hearts.
To promote such initiatives Government should give concession on road taxes and permit fees so as to ensure sustainability and viability to the operators. The concession may be 50% to even 100% but the bus fare for passengers should remain same as other bus services.
My Dad, who has travelled through the Delhi buses felt that the condition of women was so peculiar that he being a male felt there was a dire need or emergence for an only-female bus service and then HE came up with the idea of PINK BUS SERVICE. In his words, "vo mahilaye jo cabs afford kr sakti hain vo unse chali jati thi, even though it was a little costlier. But females from middle and lower-middle income group, unn badmashiyo ko bardasht krte huye apni aatma ko maar kr unn buses mein safar krti thi, inn harkato ko apni takdeer samajh Ke. Unhe anuchit sparsh aur bhadde ishare ko jhelna padta tha."
I'm sitting here writing this post only to ensure that his idea reaches the right people. I will personally do everything in my power to spread this and I hope every reader does the same.
Unfortunately, neither is this rare nor does such incident occur only in isolation. Every day tens of thousands of females travel through buses and even if 1 percent of them face any kinds of molestation, the figure says that 10 out of every 1000 female travelling in Delhi alone are exposed to such hideous act. The US based organisation, One-In-Four, surveyed on this issue and shockingly 19%-28% of college going females report rape or attempted rape in several country (The unreported figure may be even higher!)
The present case in Delhi, not only calls for stricter laws but also new ways to prevent them from happening ever again, 'ergo the PINK BUS SERVICE: of the women, for the women, by the women.
As the name suggests, this would be an ONLY FEMALE bus service that would have female drivers and conductors.
Features:
• Assured safety
• Most importantly this would give a sense of belongingness to the females which lacks in our country right now.
• More economical than Cabs for individual.
• Fuel saving, which would in-turn save foreign currency.
• Eco-friendly as the number of vehicles on road will reduce
• Female employment generation
• Less pressure of traffic on roads
As being a law student, once every year me and my other college mates spend at least a month in Delhi and as a female I can vouch for it that, had such service been given earlier, the present case and many more could have been prevented. And I personally believe all the females and Honorable CM Sheila Dixit would comply to my sentiments. Although by taking this initiative Madam Dixit, your government may loose a little revenue but more importantly you will gain the confidence of females and win their hearts.
To promote such initiatives Government should give concession on road taxes and permit fees so as to ensure sustainability and viability to the operators. The concession may be 50% to even 100% but the bus fare for passengers should remain same as other bus services.
My Dad, who has travelled through the Delhi buses felt that the condition of women was so peculiar that he being a male felt there was a dire need or emergence for an only-female bus service and then HE came up with the idea of PINK BUS SERVICE. In his words, "vo mahilaye jo cabs afford kr sakti hain vo unse chali jati thi, even though it was a little costlier. But females from middle and lower-middle income group, unn badmashiyo ko bardasht krte huye apni aatma ko maar kr unn buses mein safar krti thi, inn harkato ko apni takdeer samajh Ke. Unhe anuchit sparsh aur bhadde ishare ko jhelna padta tha."
I'm sitting here writing this post only to ensure that his idea reaches the right people. I will personally do everything in my power to spread this and I hope every reader does the same.
I might get flamed for this but I find several shortcomings in your concept.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, where does the economical aspect come into play and why? Subsidizing the cost of the transport has nothing to do with safety so that is just a meaningless reference. A citizen regardless of being male/female should have equal rights. If there is a subsidized female bus why not a subsidized male bus?
Secondly, Eco-friendly? Shouldn't that be an overall effort from all vehicle manufacturers/buyers? Please try to stay on track.
"Assured Safety" ok, here's the problem with this one. What exactly leads you to the notion that a woman only bus system would guarantee safety. Furthermore in late hours of the night - wouldn't these buses turn into highlighted pink targets rather than an "assured safety" means of transport.
Overall, I think you've missed the entire picture and focused on a secondary solution. What you should be committed to is a request for a stronger more potent judicial system. A communal empowering and an educational outreach to teach what rape does to a victim.
I wanted to emphasis how this is a win-win for everyone, see if 10 females instead of hiring individual cabs travel by one bus that will obviously be economical and eco-friendly. And if i find a positive point to a certain idea, I will express it, that way it becomes a broader concept.
DeleteNow, talking about male and female equality and right, here, is no offense, but a little silly. Because I am making a plan biased to females as they are ones facing these problems and remedies will always be only given to the patients.
About the assured safety, yes, I believe you are partly right and me, partly wrong. The word 'assured' is a stretch and I should have used words like 'more safer' then again, it would BE safer than the present ways for commute.
Finally, unfortunately Mr. Anonymous the big picture as I believe is creating a society where there is no rapes as opposed to a society where we need to reach to rape victims and punish the wrong-doer. You see, punishments for murders do not stop people for killing, but if you find a way to save lives, wouldn't that be better? *Prevention is and always will be better than cure* Think about it, had this service been already in place, would this incident have occurred?
PS: this is a mere idea, the first draft, I want people to pitch in and create a feasible plan with no short comings. But yes, I believe in this more than any other idea I have heard in last one week. Thanks for replying :)
Mr. Anonymous
DeleteAs you have taken up the concept of equal rights please enlighten yourself with the doctrine of reasonable classification elucidated under Article 14 of the constitution.
For the eco-friendly stuff please go through article 51-A of the constitution.
Also 20 law commissions with its 243 reports have solely concentrated on judicial transformation in India with an intent to cover up holes existing in present system. And this is what everyone asks for. So these little initiatives are are the things required to strive for the bigger picture unless someone decides to become Che Guevara or Bhagat Singh and turn the system upside down.
Hi Ruchita,
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate that u came up with such a novel idea, but am afraid that such a service do exist. Please check the link below.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/ladiesonly-bus-service-launched/article3944940.ece
Ya, you can definitely call for increasing the frequency of such buses.
awesome :)
ReplyDelete