Hyderabad, February 28: Tejaswini squad TTIs (Traveling Ticket Inspectors) working in the MMTS and regular trains are an unhappy lot. While the Railways has incorporated female TTIs in the last 15 to 16 years, female ticket checkers say they get little respect or recognition.
“We face a lot of problems from passengers especially in the MMTS. Male passengers especially are very rude to us and do not listen,” said Varsha (name changed), a travelling ticket inspector.
Apart from lewd stares and rude answers, lady TTIs face much more trouble from male passengers. “We keep telling male passengers not to board ladies’ coaches but they ignore us. It is not possible for us to physically force them to disembark from the coaches. Knowing this, some male passengers try to take advantage and regularly travel in ladies’ compartments,” added another female TTI, on conditions of anonymity.
Female TTIs were given platform duties seven years back when the Tejaswini flying squads were formed. Tejaswini squads now work in local as well Express trains on certain routes like Kazipet and Warangal. “MMTS trains have been a major problem for us. In incidents of a passenger talking down to us, officers generally tend to support the passenger,” pointed out another woman, working for the last seven years. The lady TTIs, however, are hesitant to complain to superiors about the rude behaviour of passengers as they fear being removed from the Tejaswini squads.
–Agencies