Mumbai, Mar 3 (IANS): In a major initiative five days before the International Womens Day (March 8), the Mumbai Metro announced on Friday that two of its stations are now fully operated by an all-female staff at all levels to empower women employees.

The stations are Akurli on Line 2A and Eksar on Line 7, which became fully operational in January this year, and are part of the historic initiative of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority and the Maha Mumbai Metro Operation Corporation Ltd.

The two stations are now handled by a 76-member team of all-female staff, ranging from the station manager to the security personnel deployed there.

They are working in three shifts and performing all duties, including that of station controller, excess fare officer, ticket sales officer, shift supervisor, customer care officer, security, housekeeping etc., ensuring efficient, safe and clean functioning of the two stations.

The Mumbai Metro said that it is keen on providing a safe working environment for women by having separate women's changing rooms on the entire network, designated women coaches, washrooms and a toll-free helpline number.

Besides the operations staff, the Mumbai Metro has a total of 958 women working in HR, hinance, maintenance, administration, including the outsourced staff.

These initiatives are aimed at recognising the contributions of women in the transportation industry, promoting gender diversity and inclusivity, highlighting their capabilities and inspiring more females to pursue careers with equality.

An official said that this would be a permanent feature on the Eksar and Akurli stations, and it is not limited to a tokenism marking the upcoming Woemn's Day celebrations.

They also said that more similar women-friendly initiatives are likely to be rolled out in the future, which would also make lakhs of women commuters feel more at ease while travelling in Mumbai Metro trains at all hours.