Harassment on the job is so routine for women bus conductors, most of them tend to just shrug it off and get on with the job. But for the past few days, women conductors working in the Maharashtra’s State Transport buses have been visibly tense and scared, both on and off duty. On June 4, one of their colleagues was brutally beaten by a male passenger on a bus in Dombivli, a suburb near Mumbai, after she reprimanded him for boarding from the front door instead of from the back one and hurling abuses at the driver.
The man reportedly pulled the conductor by her feet, dragged her off the bus, tore off her clothes and rained blows and kicks on her, while other passengers watched without intervening. Another woman conductor from a passing bus was also beaten when she tried to help. The victim is now recuperating in a local hospital, even as the man – charged with assault and outraging the modesty of a woman – is out on bail.
The incident has made other women conductors in the state acutely conscious of the daily abuse they had been taking for granted in a profession that remains male-dominated.
“This was an extreme case, but we face some form of harassment, mild or serious, nearly every day,” said Vimal Khandekar, a conductor and head of the women’s wing of the Maharashtra ST Kamgar Sangathana, a bus workers’ union.
Of the 35,000 conductors employed with the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation, 2,500 are women. Khandekar is one the 300 women conductors stationed in Thane district, working on long-distance inter-city buses. Most of her colleagues at the bustling Khopat bus depot have their own stories of harassment that they are eager to pour out. These women are well aware of the fact that they are path breakers in a traditionally male sphere, and are fiercely proud of their choice.
“Every bus has a seat reserved for conductors, and there are some kinds of men who always come and sit next to us, constantly inching closer, even if there are other empty seats,” said Sonali Jaykar, a former clerk at a private bank who became a bus conductor four years ago to get a “secure government job”.
Then there are the audacious college-going boys, she says, who stare, make lewd comments, and, when reprimanded, laugh openly at the conductor. Most of the verbal harassment occurs, however, when men get told off by women conductors for climbing on the bus through the wrong door. “Very rarely do other passengers speak up for us,” said Khandekar. "In fact, I get the feeling that such abuse is increasing every year."
Several states employ women to be bus conductor and harassment is part of the job for a great many of them. Goa had its first lady conductor back in 1981, Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim, Kerala and Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have had them for several years and some states like Gujarat and Rajasthan joined the list just last year.
On May 28, just a few days before the incident in Dombivli, a woman conductor on a Kerala state transport bus was assaulted by a drunken man.
In Maharashtra, officials at the MSRTC claim that women conductors are not given night shifts to ensure their safety. “We see to it that lady conductors only get day-time duties and are back to their depots by sunset,” said a spokesperson from MSRTC’s public relations department.
The women conductors in Thane find this claim laughable. While they are not given duty on buses that leave after sunset and travel overnight, they are routinely appointed to buses that reach their destination well past midnight. “At night, it is the drunk and drugged men who harass us the most, trying to touch us inappropriately,” said Jyoti Patil, a 35-year-old conductor who has been on the job for the three years. “When we have to get home late, we don’t get any official drop and are left to ourselves.”
Because State Transport buses travel long distances within Maharashtra, conductors and drivers often have to stay over at destination towns before heading back the next day. For the overnight lodging, all they get are unfurnished resting rooms – separate ones for men and women – and bus employees are expected to carry their own food and bedding.
“The rest rooms are always cramped and unclean,” said Patil. “But while the men have the luxury of sleeping anywhere in the open or inside the bus, we have no option but to remain in the women’s room.”
For Patil, the ladies’ resting room is not just a temporary abode for overnight stays – she has spent the past three years living in the tiny women’s room in Thane’s Khopat depot, because she hails from Nashik and has no home in Mumbai or Thane. For three years, she has lived amidst 30 other women conductors, without a bed, mattress or even a shelf. Her husband, mother-in-law and her six-month old daughter live in Nashik, and Patil gets to see them only on Mondays, her weekly day off.
“I used to be a housewife, but I fought with my family to take up this job when we needed more income,” said Patil, who earns Rs 9,000 a month after working 12-hour shifts, six days a week. “After this week’s incident, even my family is scared for me.”
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The man reportedly pulled the conductor by her feet, dragged her off the bus, tore off her clothes and rained blows and kicks on her, while other passengers watched without intervening. Another woman conductor from a passing bus was also beaten when she tried to help. The victim is now recuperating in a local hospital, even as the man – charged with assault and outraging the modesty of a woman – is out on bail.
The incident has made other women conductors in the state acutely conscious of the daily abuse they had been taking for granted in a profession that remains male-dominated.
“This was an extreme case, but we face some form of harassment, mild or serious, nearly every day,” said Vimal Khandekar, a conductor and head of the women’s wing of the Maharashtra ST Kamgar Sangathana, a bus workers’ union.
Of the 35,000 conductors employed with the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation, 2,500 are women. Khandekar is one the 300 women conductors stationed in Thane district, working on long-distance inter-city buses. Most of her colleagues at the bustling Khopat bus depot have their own stories of harassment that they are eager to pour out. These women are well aware of the fact that they are path breakers in a traditionally male sphere, and are fiercely proud of their choice.
“Every bus has a seat reserved for conductors, and there are some kinds of men who always come and sit next to us, constantly inching closer, even if there are other empty seats,” said Sonali Jaykar, a former clerk at a private bank who became a bus conductor four years ago to get a “secure government job”.
Then there are the audacious college-going boys, she says, who stare, make lewd comments, and, when reprimanded, laugh openly at the conductor. Most of the verbal harassment occurs, however, when men get told off by women conductors for climbing on the bus through the wrong door. “Very rarely do other passengers speak up for us,” said Khandekar. "In fact, I get the feeling that such abuse is increasing every year."
Sonali Jaykar and Vimal Khandekar.
Several states employ women to be bus conductor and harassment is part of the job for a great many of them. Goa had its first lady conductor back in 1981, Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim, Kerala and Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have had them for several years and some states like Gujarat and Rajasthan joined the list just last year.
On May 28, just a few days before the incident in Dombivli, a woman conductor on a Kerala state transport bus was assaulted by a drunken man.
In Maharashtra, officials at the MSRTC claim that women conductors are not given night shifts to ensure their safety. “We see to it that lady conductors only get day-time duties and are back to their depots by sunset,” said a spokesperson from MSRTC’s public relations department.
The women conductors in Thane find this claim laughable. While they are not given duty on buses that leave after sunset and travel overnight, they are routinely appointed to buses that reach their destination well past midnight. “At night, it is the drunk and drugged men who harass us the most, trying to touch us inappropriately,” said Jyoti Patil, a 35-year-old conductor who has been on the job for the three years. “When we have to get home late, we don’t get any official drop and are left to ourselves.”
Because State Transport buses travel long distances within Maharashtra, conductors and drivers often have to stay over at destination towns before heading back the next day. For the overnight lodging, all they get are unfurnished resting rooms – separate ones for men and women – and bus employees are expected to carry their own food and bedding.
“The rest rooms are always cramped and unclean,” said Patil. “But while the men have the luxury of sleeping anywhere in the open or inside the bus, we have no option but to remain in the women’s room.”
For Patil, the ladies’ resting room is not just a temporary abode for overnight stays – she has spent the past three years living in the tiny women’s room in Thane’s Khopat depot, because she hails from Nashik and has no home in Mumbai or Thane. For three years, she has lived amidst 30 other women conductors, without a bed, mattress or even a shelf. Her husband, mother-in-law and her six-month old daughter live in Nashik, and Patil gets to see them only on Mondays, her weekly day off.
“I used to be a housewife, but I fought with my family to take up this job when we needed more income,” said Patil, who earns Rs 9,000 a month after working 12-hour shifts, six days a week. “After this week’s incident, even my family is scared for me.”
The room in Thane's Khopat depot where Jyoti Patil lives.