This Indian city to sensitise cab drivers on safety of women passengers

The Kolkata Traffic Police is launching a gender sensitisation programme for the cab and taxi drivers in the city in order to ensure that women passengers can commute safely in app-based cabs and taxis even during the night time. The initiative will be rolled out by the officers of Kolkata Traffic Police's South East Guard from Tuesday.

The initiative will be jointly carried out by the Kolkata Police Training Academy and the Kolkata Traffic Police officers, who will together train drivers of app-based cabs, taxis and autorickshaws to behave properly with women passengers, especially during the night.

The city has witnessed several incidents of cab drivers misbehaving with women passengers or harassing them in the past, and thus, this initiative aims to bring about a change. “In the past couple of years, we have witnessed several incidents of app-cab drivers misbehaving with women passengers. There are incidents of women being harassed by cab drivers," a senior police officer told PTI. “So to ensure that the city is safe for women commuters, we will be starting the training programme from the South East Traffic Guard," he added.

After the successful completing of this program, the Kolkata Traffic Police will also carry out such training programmes at other traffic guards, the officer informed.

The officers also plan to train bus conductors after training the app-cab drivers, and at the end of the training, the drivers will be given a certificate. They will also be provided with a sticker that reads - This Car Respects Women - which they will have to paste on the windshield of their vehicles. The primary aim of the initiative is to cut down on the number of crimes against women passengers in the city.

(with inputs from PTI)