Kherki Daula is second toll plaza in Delhi-NCR to hire women

The toll plaza recently employed Devi and nine other women, all of whom hail from Varanasi or nearby villages, through the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushal Yojana to work as toll collectors.

Another woman, who hails from Palwal, has also been hired through the programme and deployed at the plaza’s administrative department. With this move, Kherki Daula has become the second toll plaza in Delhi-NCR to hire women toll collectors. The first to do so was the Gurgaon-Faridabad toll plaza.

“We trained the women over the last week, beginning April 18. They began work on Monday morning,” said Piyush Gandhi, Project Head, Skylark Group — the company which operates the toll plaza. According to Gandhi, the women were hired to work alongside men with the aim of “empowerment”, as well as in the hope that their presence will reduce incidents of friction and violence at the toll plaza.

“Over the past years, there have been several incidents of conflict at the toll plaza. We expect this will reduce with the presence of the women, because people will think 10 times before misbehaving with them,” he said.

The women currently work in 10 of the 22 lanes. But due to safety concerns, they work the morning shift between 8 am and 4 pm. Officials said a separate guesthouse has been provided to accommodate them, with company vehicles transporting them to and from the toll plaza.

For 19-year-old Maneka Sharma, the opportunity to work at the plaza was a “dream come true”. “I had seen women working at a toll plaza in Uttar Pradesh, and was always fascinated by them. I can now see what life at the plaza is like, and also support my family,” said Sharma.

Officials said most of the women are between 19 and 25 years of age and have completed their schooling. At least 15 more are expected to join the group within the next fortnight, with their training beginning later this week.

The women also said they are “not worried at all” about their safety, with most claiming that any apprehensions they may have had were removed after they saw the security arrangements at the plaza.

“Our senior staff is made up of ex-Armymen, who keep an eye on the proceedings. In addition, we have a male toll collector working alongside the women at every booth, so that they can ask for guidance or help if needed,” Gandhi said.

Safety concerns, officials said, are another reason why women have not been deployed to handle traffic at the plaza.

While reiterating that security arrangements are “very” good for the women, Purnima Yadav (22), who sits at a toll booths, said, “It is also a matter of how we want to carry ourselves. If we have confidence in ourselves, that we can handle any situation; people cannot really trouble us.”