Delhi Govt appoints first-ever batch of woman bus drivers under DTC

The appointment of women as bus drivers has come in the backdrop of the Delhi government’s consistent effort to induct women as bus drivers under its city transportation fleet.

SNS | New Delhi | August 24, 2022 12:55 am

Delhi Govt appoints first-ever batch of woman bus drivers under DTC

The Delhi government, in a historic step on Tuesday, handed over letters of appointment to 11 women drivers joining Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) as bus drivers.

The letters of appointment were handed over by Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot in the presence of Transport Commissioner Ashish Kundra, Managing Director Delhi Integrated Multimodal Transit System (DIMTS) Rajesh Agarwal and other senior officials. The first batch of 11 women will now start their career as bus drivers and have been deployed under various depots of Delhi Transport Corporation.

The appointment of women as bus drivers has come in the backdrop of the Delhi government’s consistent effort to induct women as bus drivers under its city transportation fleet. Many women have also come out and spoken about willingness to become bus drivers in the state public transport services.

Gahlot, on the occasion further stated, “I want to thank all women today being handed over the letters of appointment today, for their courage to take up bus driving as career choice and becoming a role model for society. I am very hopeful that they will inspire more women to become bus drivers with Delhi’s Transportation fleet. I am very hopeful that with more women driving Delhi Government’s buses, the public transportation in the city will become safer and passenger friendly. I wish them the very best for the future.”

In February, the Delhi government had relaxed the norms and eligibility criteria to recruit women as drivers within its bus operations. It reduced minimum height criteria from 159cm to 153cm and ‘experience criteria’ for induction as bus drivers to one month for women applicants. The step increased opportunities for women employment within the combined fleet strength of approximately 7370 buses in the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) and the Delhi Integrated Multi-modal Transit System (DIMTS). The move also opened the doors for women to be employed within the 15000 strong workforce of bus drivers within the state public transportation.