Bengal’s all-women railway station debuts at Hijli

Kharagpur: On International Women’s Day, Hijli railway station — barely 1km from the IIT-Kharagpur campus and 90km from Kolkata — became the first all-women station in Bengal. The Railways plans to have a total of 29 allwomen stations nationwide — others already running on girl power are stations in Chandragiri, Mantunga, Gandhinagar, in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan.
Headed by station master Gita Kumari, the station has 23 women staffers running operations. They include four women booking clerks at the two ticket counters, four in the ticket checking squad, three Railway Protection Force (RPF) jawans, one points staff, three Group D staffers and seven in the station’s carrier and wagon (C&W) section. The responsibility of sweeping and cleanliness has been given to a contractor who has been asked to employ women.
Kumari said, “Each staff member will work eight hours a day in rotational shifts. I am overwhelmed to be given this responsibility of station master. I will do my best for the welfare of passengers and ensure smooth operations.”

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