In an attempt to encourage more women employees to step forward and drive Volvo buses, IAS officer C Shikha, the managing director of Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) drove a Volvo bus at the Hoskote Volvo driving training centre.

C Shikha

A video of the IAS officer surfaced the internet while she was test-driving a Volvo bus on Tuesday, January 14. In the video, C Shikha was seen behind the wheels as she was assisted by senior BMTC officials. The BMTC MD drove the bus in order to perform a quality check on the test track. 

In recent times, C Shikha is one of the first IAS officers to have inspected a Volvo bus by test driving it herself.  The employees, especially the BMTC women staff were overwhelmed by this gesture of their MD. 

'More women staffers should drive Volvo buses'

bmtc
After steel flyover, BMTC's proposal of 150 electric buses at Rs. 2.7 crore each raises eyebrows Pictured: BMTC busWikimedia Commons

In an interview, C Shikha said, "I just wanted to get a feel of public transport and also experience the feeling of driving a Volvo." She further added, "More women staffers should come forward to drive Volvo buses. I was doing a quality check as we are in the process of procuring these buses." BMTC has 6,400 buses and employees around 14,000 bus drivers with a daily ridership of 36 lakhs.