Haryana women give out tickets to ride, break barriers

JIND: A trained teacher-turned-bus conductor is offering lessons in breaking notions in patriarchal Haryana. 41-year-old Bhateri Devi is a postgraduate and national eligibility test (NET) qualifier, and the mother of two is one of the eight woman conductors recruited by the state carrier Haryana Roadways recently. Three of them, including 24-year-old Raj Rani and 22-year-old Kavita Rani, joined duty at the Jind depot on Saturday, and shared with TOI their first day at the job and life experiences.

Bhateri hails from Haibatpur village in Jind district and had completed her MA, BEd and even cleared NET and Haryana teachers’ eligibility test (HTET) as she wanted to become a teacher. However, after several failed attempts during past 10 years to get a government job as teacher, she applied for conductor’s job with Haryana Roadways and was selected.

She said that in the present times it was difficult to get a government job and she was happy with her new experience. Bhateri has a 19-year-old daughter and 17-year-old son, while her husband has a furniture shop. She said that she the whole family’s support in her decision to apply for a job, so far only taken up in Haryana by men.

It was a new experience even for commuters to find women conductors vending tickets on Haryana Roadways buses.

Most of them offered words of encouragement and blessing, says Raj Rani (24), who is a daughter of street vendor and a BCom graduate. She said that it was not an easy task as women have joined the department for the first time, but she was ready to handle any situation so that other girls also get inspired to join the male-dominant arena.

Sharing her first day experience, she said an as she was handing over ticket to an elderly man, he asked her if she had joined as a women conductor. On her replying in the affirmative, the man put his hand on her head as blessing and said the society and commuters should appreciate her decision and support her. After that she got courage and expects that she will be able to manage with the help of people.

Kavita Rani of Morkhi village of the district is also a graduate. She said she was excited about the new experience and ready to face all the challenges. Kavita added that she had secured second position in Kurukshetra University in her second year of gradation and fifth position in final year across the state. She plans be continue with her studies. Now, others girls will come forward to join this field from a backward areas like Jind, she added.

Jai Bhagwan from Narnaund block of Hisar, who was travelling with his wife, said that they were happy to see a woman conductor and hoped that people cooperate with her. He said, “Girls are making headway in every field and society will have to accept the change.”

Additional chief secretary for transport Dhanpat Singh reiterated that these women would be a motivational factor for others. He added that they had a total of eight women conductors and planned to allot home district to unmarried girls and near station to married ones so that after the duty they could reach home on time.