Wished to wear khaki dress, and here she is

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On the occasion of International Women’s Day on Sunday, M. Sumathi was happy issuing tickets to commuters, in Coimbatore. Photo: M.Periasamy
On the occasion of International Women’s Day on Sunday, M. Sumathi was happy issuing tickets to commuters, in Coimbatore. Photo: M.Periasamy

For 28-year-old M. Sumathi, work hours start at about 12.30 p.m. every day and go on till 10 p.m. She travels on the Ukkadam to Gandhipuram bus route No. 130.

Lone woman conductor

She is the lone woman conductor in the nearly 420 Government town buses in the city.

But for a trip in the evening to Chinniyampalayam, she shuttles between Ukkadam and Gandhipuram for the rest of the day. “I have to only issue tickets and this is a job I like,” she says.

She has completed Class X and she joined the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC), Coimbatore Region, about three months ago.

The mother of three wanted to join the police but she could not make it. Till she joined the TNSTC, she was at home, taking care of her family.

“I was determined to wear a khaki dress and thought why not make it come true by joining as a Government bus conductor,” she said and added that her husband A. Murugesan (39), a carpenter, has been a source of encouragement and support by taking care of their two sons and a daughter.

Dignity

Sumathi enjoys her profession and the way she is treated with dignity by her counterparts and commuters.

“Colleagues, elder or younger to me, call me Akka (elder sister). I am very comfortable working with them,” she says.

Though the trip to Chinniyampalayam is hectic as the bus is crowded, she adds that even in the crowded bus there is good cooperation from the commuters.

Even the youth who travel on the footboard come into the bus when she addresses them as thambi(younger brothers), she says.

A senior TNSTC officer said that on an average there are only three or four women conductors in the district every year.

He said that a few women applied for the post of conductor, but were rejected as they did not have the minimum required height of 160 cm.

There are two more women employed as conductors in the district – at Pollachi – and that the department was open to recruit women as conductors, the officer said.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Coimbatore / by M.K. Ananth / Coimbatore – March 09th, 2015