In a first, railway magazine goes pink, dedicates May issue to women

The Railways has doffed its cap to its women force, devoting the latest issue of its monthly magazine to female employees and their achievements after dedicating the year to the safety of women.

The cover of the 'Indian Railways' - in purple and pink -- celebrates their feats in sports, as managers of railway stations, as checkers and security personnel.

"The May issue has a special focus on women and as we have dedicated this year to women's safety in the Railways, we are taking special measures in improving the safety, security and amenities for women," said an official.

The decisions were taken by a committee, consisting of Railway Board chairperson Ashwani Lohani, member (traffic) Mohammed Jamshed and other senior officials, which was set up to monitor measures taken for the safety and security of women travelling on trains.

Railway zones also have been asked to issue a calendar of events for the year on issues related to the security of women and children.

The magazine, which costs Rs 10, turns the spotlight on women ticket checkers, testimonials from them on working with the national transporter and carries a ready reckoner on the special privileges that women passengers are provided with by the Railways.

It also highlights a series of record-making achievements -- the first woman to operate a train, to become a station manager, announcer, mechanic and so on.

Earlier, the committee had also decided that coaches reserved for women would be placed at the centre instead of the rear end of both long distance and suburban trains and would be painted in a different colour to make them easily identifiable.

The coaches will also have CCTV cameras as an additional security measure and talks are on about covering windows with wire meshes.

It has also been decided that the coaches will have a mixed crew - with women on the squads of ticket checkers and RPF personnel, sources said.

The committee has also suggested that in the next three years, the number of stations run by women be increased from the present three to 100. General Managers have been instructed to earmark 10 stations from every zone for this purpose, the sources said.

The committee has also decided to build infrastructure facilities specifically for women.