JAMMU: Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti on Saturday flagged-off all women special bus service in Jammu. The ladies special bus service is being run by Jammu and Kashmir State Road Transport Corporation (SRTC).
A similar bus service was launched in Srinagar in April this year and is running successfully, with working women and female students making best use of the exclusive and secure facility. The ladies special buses flagged-off from Jammu on Saturday will ply on hourly basis and Regional Transport Officer, Jammu and General Manager, JKSRTC would monitor the service regularly. These buses will initially ply from Panjtirthi to Gandi Nagar-Shastri Nagar, Panjtirthi to Bohri-Anand Nagar and Panjtirthi to Bantalab-Roopnagar.
The Chief Minister said after the huge success of the experiment in Srinagar, the government has decided to provide similar facility to the women commuters in other cities and towns of the State, besides increasing the frequency of services in the two capital cities. “With this initiative, I can now assure that my sisters and daughters need not to be concerned about intimidation in public buses,” she said and added that new buses are being purchased by the SRTC for being deployed as ladies special buses which will be equipped with state-of-the-art facilities.
Delighted by the launch of the services, women folk of the city termed the move as very appreciative. “The ladies special bus will definitely cater to the needs of all sections of women, mostly working and female students,” said a commuter adding; “It is certainly a relief for me and hundreds of other females to travel by this bus, which is only meant for ladies.” Minister of State for Transport (Independent Charge), Sunil Kumar Sharma said the Government has earmarked Rs 5 crore for purchase of exclusive ladies special buses which will be deployed on various routes in the State.
Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Naveen Kumar Choudhary, Deputy Commissioner Jammu, Dr Simrandeep Singh, IG Jammu, Danesh Rana, DIG Jammu, Ashkoor Wani, and officers of Transport Department, SRTC and district administration were present on the occasion.