Delhi Metro Inaugurates Its First Ever Women’s Convenience Lounge. It’s Not Earth Shattering But It’s A Great Step in The Right Direction
Out of all the things that are often generalised about us Delhi folks, be it our cocky nature, fascination towards brands or lack of decency towards women (although that seems to be universal now), one that runs most rampant is that if you’re a Delhi woman, you would probably have had at least one experience of sexual assault or gender bias in your kitty. Except this isn’t a generalised comment anymore, it is a fact. A fact that has for the longest time been brushed under the carpet, at the expense of basic and human rights being extended to them. But seems like, things are finally changing around here, as more and more actions are being taken in consideration towards women and their safety.
We say this after coming across how Delhi Metro has opened a first of its kind women’s lounge at the Barakhamba Road Metro Station on the Blue Line. Called the, ‘Women’s Convenience Lounge’, that was recently inaugurated by Power secretary Sanjiv Nandan Sahai, and set up by Power Finance Corporation (PFC), this lounge might provide a solution to the troubles that are faced by women on the daily.
Delhi Metro is one of the most widely used modes of transport for public in the city and is often filled with people, most of whom have little or no consideration for women, what with men often forgetting the concept of personal space or decency. With lakhs of women travelling by the metro every day, it was only necessary to introduce this concept to provide a respite, even if briefly, to the problems that women face.
Shri S N Sahai, Secretary, Ministry of Power in the presence of MD/DMRC Dr Mangu Singh and CMD/PFC Shri Rajeev Sharma inaugurated the Women's Convenience Lounge at Barakhamba Road station with a dedicated diaper changing centre, breastfeeding kiosk & free napkin vending machine. pic.twitter.com/QrExeWhy2d
— Delhi Metro Rail Corporation I कृपया मास्क पहनें😷 (@OfficialDMRC) March 9, 2020
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With such convenience lounges being introduced, each with about a 100 square ft area, women will now have a safe space to breast feed their children, kiosks enabled with diaper changing desks, free sanitary pads vending machine and also a one-time seating capacity of six women. Besides this, a woman helper would be present in the lounge at all times to assist other women. This safe space will not only help in providing women with an environment to take care of their basic needs without fear for safety.
With this, every woman, pregnant, mother or menstruating would be helped to take care of themselves without the threat of men invading their privacy. The hope is that these places are clean and sanitary, something that most toilets meant for women are not. Meanwhile, women would have access to free sanitary pads across all 21 stations of the Noida-Greater Noida Metro. A plan to introduce an all women-staff is also under the talks and might be implemented soon. With such changes taking place, we are thrilled to see how the DMRC is finally stepping up for female passengers and doing their bit in making it a safer space.
