MSCW chairperson Rupali Chakankar says will take up with railways issues faced by suburban women commuters

Maharashtra State Commission for Woman (MSCW) chairperson Rupali Chakankar has said they will follow up with the suburban railway administration the issues faced by woman commuters from and their various demands including more seats and coaches for them in local trains.

During a programme in Thane on Tuesday, she also stressed on the need for setting up a women’s complaint redressal committee in every government/private office in the district within three months to stop the harassment of women at workplace.

Chakankar presided over the womens commission at your doorstep programme in Thane on Tuesday. Later, speaking to mediapersons, she said a delegation of women railway passengers association met her and gave a memorandum of various demands, like increasing in the number of seats and coaches for them in local trains from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus to Kasara and Karjat.

The delegation also demanded CCTVs in women’s coaches, deployment of more police personnel for their safety during travel, facilities like hirkani room (for lactating mothers to feed their minor kids) and toilets at all stations.

Chakankar said the commission will follow it up to ensure the railway administration looks positively at these demands of lakhs of women who travel for work every day in Mumbai and Thane districts. She also said that a number of girls/women going missing from the state was a matter of serious concern.

Chakankar also said that though cases of child marriage are less in the district, some people quietly indulge in it by showing wrong birth date (of girls). To stop such things, a mass awareness needs to be created with the help of anganwadi and ASHA (accredited social health activist) workers, she said.