Bhubaneswar: The state Transport Commissioner has asked the Regional Transport Officers (RTOs) across Odisha to ensure that a woman must not be prevented from entering a bus as the first passenger.

The Transport Commissioner’s order to the RTOs came in the wake of a petition lodged by a social campaigner with the Odisha State Commission for Women (OSCW) to highlight an incident in which a woman was prevented from entering a passenger bus as the first president.

“The bus staff often argue that their business will be affected or the vehicle will meet a mishap if they allow the women passengers to enter the vehicle first. They usually ask the women passengers to wait and allow the men to board the bus first,” said petitioner Ghasiram Panda.

Taking the issue seriously, the OSCW had written to the Transport Commissioner and urged the latter to initiate immediate steps to ensure that women must not be prevented from entering both government and private buses as first passengers.

“The owner or conductor of a state carriage cannot deny any women as first passenger to enter into the buses. Any deviation shall amount to violation of permit conditions and punishable under Section 192A of Motor Vehicle Act, 1988,” read the letter of the Transport Commissioner to the RTOs.

The Transport Commissioner has asked the RTOs to check the state carriages regularly and issue e-challan to the owner of a bus if he or any of his employees prevents a woman from entering the vehicle as the first passenger.