In 2007, the Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mandal Limited (PMPML) decided to reserve the left section of its buses for women. However, two years later, the management is still lackadaisical about implementing the rule. Not only are the seats occupied by men, few conductors are willing to enforce the rule, say women passengers.

“Even when we complain, the conductors pay little attention. If they don’t enforce the rule, which male passenger will get up? Men rarely get up even if we ask them ourselves,” said a woman passenger.

It was a study by the Centre for Development, Planning and Research in September 2007 that prompted the change. The study was on ‘Sexual Harassment in PMPML (then Pune Municipal Transport) buses.’

“We spoke to women who travelled by bus frequently. They complained of harassment in buses. Few said they got seats and almost all the respondents said conductors were unhelpful,” said Manaswini Prabhune, a researcher with the centre, who was part of the study.

In all, 265 women were surveyed – 81 per cent said men deliberately harassed them, 88 per cent said they faced harassment regularly while 61 per cent said they did not feel safe sitting next to men.

The women’s wing of the Pune Working Journalists’ Union had then held a seminar which was attended by public bus utility officials, women passengers and women activists.

A promise to reserve seats for women was wrangled out of the bus utility management. Soon, PMPML buses began carrying boards that labelled the women's section.

... contd.