Meri Saheli is an women-oriented initiative by the Indian Railways that is aimed at ensuring the safety and security of women and making their journey comfortable and seamless. The South Central Railway launched this Railway Protection Force-led programme in October 2020, and its performance report for January to June 2023 reflects consistent effort, with Secunderabad division topping the list.

The basic objective of this proactive initiative is to provide women passengers with a heightened sense of security during train journeys, enabling them to travel without apprehensions about their safety. To create a supportive environment for this programme trained female personnel are deployed to assist women passengers in various aspects, including boarding and alighting from the train, understanding the layout of the station, and addressing any concerns during the journey.

Another important aspect that this initiative touches upon is creating and raising awareness among women about their rights, the available support mechanisms, and how to respond effectively to any untoward incidents. This goes a long way in empowering them too.

SCR had started this scheme by establishing Meri Saheli teams at 20 stations across 6 divisions of SCR. While Secunderabad Division has 5 stations, Hyderabad 2, Vijayawada, Guntakal and Nanded divisions have 4 stations each, and Guntur one.

Every team has a woman sub inspector assisted by two to 24 members. These teams provide assistance in SCR’s 15 originating trains and 35 passing ones.

The teams are assessed on the basis of the number of trains attended, passengers assisted, feedback collected, and the quality of service provided. For the period Jan-June 2023, the feedback ratings show both excellent and satisfactory, suggesting a balanced response from passengers. Secunderabad tops the list with 12,974 excellent ratings and 6,205 satisfactory while Hyderabad received 7,505 excellent ratings only. Nanded received the third highest excellent rating of 3,936.

Complimenting the RPF personnel for their performance and focused campaigns, Arun Kumar Jain, General Manager, SCR emphasized that security of the women passengers shall be given utmost priority.

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