Lady Traffic Personnel In Guwahati Face Washroom Problem

GUWAHATI: Women police personnel clad in sky blue uniform managing traffic in Guwahati look smart. The job does project them as gender benders. However, the job is really troublesome for them. For hours they have to work under harsh condition without adequate facilities and cooperation from the public.

One of the major problems for such lady police officers, 36 in number in Guwahati roads, is washrooms. In the event of the call of nature, such lady police personnel land in troubles. They cannot simply leave a traffic point unmanned to go in search of washrooms. There are also traffic points in Guwahati where private washrooms are not available, let alone public ones.

Talking to this reporter, some of the lady traffic personnel said that they need to do duty on a traffic point at least four hours before being shifted to another point. Apart from washroom problems, they have other professional hazards that land them in problem. Sometimes they face some unruly youths who even don’t hesitate to use abusive words against them. With the traffic problems being complicated in Guwahati, such lady traffic personnel face more problems, mostly due to non-cooperation from vehicle users, a section of whom don’t have the patience to wait for the traffic signal. “What can a girl do in such a situation that’s traditionally a male bastion,” this one of the most common taunts from vehicles users. “However, the reality remains that we’re equally trained as our male counterparts,” one of the lady traffic personnel said.

Talking to The Sentinel, DCP (Traffic) Prasanta Saikia said on the problem of washrooms for women police personnel: “We’re holding talks with our higher-ups to hold talks with hotels, restaurants, offices, malls etc that are nearest to traffic points to allow their washrooms for lady traffic police personnel.”

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