Thane: Women Protest Against Central Railway By Wearing Black Ribbons

Thane, 8th March 2023: Every day, thousands of women travel towards Mumbai by local on the Dombivli-Central Railway line. Women railway passengers wore black armbands to mark International Women’s Day on Wednesday to protest against the lack of any measures taken by the Central Railway administration to ensure the smooth, safe and comfortable journey of women.

Every day thousands of women travel for work and business on Kasara, Karjat to the CSMT railway line on the Central Railway line. To ensure a smooth journey for these women, the railway administration should take various measures in terms of safety. The Central Railway Administration, under the leadership of Suburban Railway Passenger Federation General Secretary Lata Argade, organized a Women’s Day protest at Dombivli railway station on Wednesday to protest against the fact that despite repeated meetings and representations with the railway authorities, the demands were not taken into consideration.

On this occasion, women representatives of the Suburban Railway Passenger Association, Dombivli Railway Passenger Association, Kalyan Kasara Railway Passenger Association, and Tejaswini Mahila Railway Passenger Association participated in the protest. The representatives of the organization pinned a black ribbon on the dress towards the shoulders of every woman coming to the railway platform. All the women passengers enthusiastically participated in this activity.

“Why is the railway administration, ready for long-distance express and mail trains, reluctant to provide facilities to women passengers who travel in thousands every day? Railways get crores of rupees in revenue through the tickets and passes of these women,” Lata Argade, President of the Suburban Railway Passenger Federation, questioned. She further warned that women passengers will not remain silent if the railways are deliberately refusing to provide facilities despite this information.

Lata Argade, Anita Zope, Neela Bhagwat, Rekha Jadhav, Nazima Syed, Rajshree Pajankar, Saili Shinde, and Rekha Dedhia of Travelers Association participated in the protest.

Thane railway station is overloaded with passengers coming from Navi Mumbai, Mumbai, private vehicles and buses from the western suburbs. Therefore, Thane railway station is constantly overflowing with people. To divide this crowd, morning and evening shuttle services should be started from Thane railway station to Karjat-Kasara. Due to the metro, the load of passengers going to western suburbs from Ghatkopar is more. Therefore, special local trains should be released from Ghatkopar to Titwala, Asangaon, Badlapur, Karjat, and Kasara areas in the evening hours. Due to this, it will be convenient for passengers to be separated and for women to travel comfortably, said Argade.

20 years ago, there were as many reserved coaches for women as local. Although it has been slightly modified, the passenger seating capacity of the coaches has not been increased to a large extent for women. Even after getting a first-class pass, or ticket, it is not possible to travel comfortably because of the crowd. Even though the railway administration is aware of all these problems, why are the officials not paying attention to them? Argade complained that since most of the railway officials are foreigners and do not know the local geography, they do not take any action to implement the suggestions of the passengers apart from just listening to the suggestions received.

Passengers holding normal local tickets are travelling from air-conditioned local. There are hawker stalls on bridges between railway stations. There is a nuisance of beggars in the box. The women passengers have demanded that all these things should be addressed.

Male hawkers enter the women’s compartment while railway security personnel and police are patrolling the railway station. If these hawkers are rebuffed, they give the opposite retort. She said they would not dare to do this unless they has a connection with the police.

“The railway administration is not paying attention to the smooth and safe journey of women passengers. Meetings were held with the senior officials of the railway many times; statements were given. Still, as it is not being taken into account, this protest movement is being carried out to draw the attention of seniors, including the Railway Minister.”