Kolkata: Transport minister Arjun Singh on Friday flagged off a procession of four buses from Howrah Maidan, honouring female bus conductors, drivers, owners and transport personnel from Bengal.The rally was part of Bus Jatra 4.0, a rally-cum-exhibition held by Kolkata Bus-o-Pedia Foundation, a platform with 4.9 lakh social media followers, which celebrated Kolkata’s bus transport history and women who broke into the traditionally male-dominated industry. Among those honuored at the event were five WBTC woman conductors and an owner-conductor, operating in the private sector.The four buses represented different eras and facets of Bengal’s transit landscape—a modern WBTC AC CNG bus, highlighting the move towards greener energy, a Route 29 minibus, and two of the oldest historic routes connecting Howrah with Esplanade—Route 57 (Kona-Esplanade) and the 103-year-old Route 52 (Ramrajatala-Esplanade). The fleet travelled to Academy of Fine Arts, where each vehicle housed an interactive museum-style exhibition for an hour before returning to Howrah Maidan to a waiting crowd of over 150 enthusiasts. Aniket Banerjee, general secretary of Bus-o-Pedia, said, “On the Route 57 bus, we showed Delhi, a few states in the South and even UP (in 2012), showed the entry of woman conductors . The Route 52 bus showcased a digital exhibition on the contribution of female workers, with short interviews with a few of them.”Dolly Rana, conductor and owner of a Route 57 bus, had entered the industry out of necessity. “I bought the bus in 2017 but in the initial years, the conductors I employed would cheat me. During the pandemic, when people were pressuring me to sell the bus, I decided to become a conductor myself. I am not giving up my (conductor’s) bag any time soon,” the resident of Belgachhia, Howrah, told TOI. “Woman drivers on routes 34C and Nimta-Howrah mini are no longer in service. We did contact one who works in Diamond Harbour, but she could not make it,” Banerjee said.By bringing together historic preservation, environmental progress through clean energy vehicles, and frontline transport workers, the Kolkata Bus-o-Pedia Foundation continues to bridge the gap between daily commuters, fleet owners, and transit workers.
