The New Amravati station has been inaugurated as yet another ‘pink station’ by the Central Railway. The station will be managed by an all-women staff, just like Matunga and Ajni stations of the Central Railway that turned ‘pink’ before it. The station looks after the running of 10 trains, and is therefore, a significant one in the Bhusaval Division.
The station, used by about 380 passengers daily, will be managed by 12 women, including four deputy station superintendents, four points women, three railway-protection personnel and one station ticket-booking agent.
This is another achievement towards making the Railways more inclusive.
It is interesting to note here that in 2018-19, about 786 women were hired against 5,707 men whereas in 2019-20, about 8,957 women were recruited against over 12,800 men. In 2020-21, the number of women hired was 779 as against 4779 men. In 2021-22, 276 women were hired against more than 4,000 men. The ratio hasn’t improved much in 2022-23. As per provisional data, It is 1,611 women against about 20,000 men.
While all posts or vacancies notified by the Railways are open to both men and women, the application fee taken from women candidates is refunded to those who appear for the test or exam.
Also, the upper age limit in case of widows, divorced women and women who are legally separated from their husbands and have not remarried, is relaxed up to the age of 35 years.
