Meet Laxmi Jadhav, Mumbai's first woman BEST bus driver

Laxmi Jadhav from Mulund is going to become the first woman BEST bus driver in the transport body’s 96 years of history For the first time in its 96-year history. According to a report by the Times of India, Jadhav was hired by lease operator Mateshwari Urban Transport Solutions Pvt Ltd., which runs 400 buses for the corporation. Who is Laxmi Jadhav? A driving enthusiast from childhood, Laxmi was the first woman to receive an autorickshaw permit from Wadala RTO in 2016. Doing odd jobs with transport agencies earlier taught her to drive luxury cars like BMW and Mercedes. As per the TOI report, she always received support from her husband in her professional pursuits. Her two sons are pursuing engineering and commerce graduate courses. The job with BEST bus service looked attractive as it provides stable income and provident fund. To gain an employment opportunity with the city’s oldest bus service, Laxmi enrolled in Dindoshi depot to learn driving BEST buses. She received her license in 2019. Even though she is the first BEST bus driver, the transport body already has around 90 women conductors. For now Laxmi is undergoing intensive training, she will soon be joined by two other women who have also been hired to drive the buses. She is likely to join the rota on 27 or 28 May, after Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and the state’s tourism and environment minister Aaditya Thackeray flag off the bus. She will drive the bus route between Dharavi bus depot and south Mumbai. According to News18, a month ago, a 40-year-old woman named Jelaja Ratheesh drove a lorry with loaded cargo from Kerala to Kashmir. Jelaja embarked on her journey from Perumbavoor in Ernakulam district of Kerala on 2 February. While accompanied by her husband Ratheesh PS and a relative Aneesh KS, Jelaja first ferried plywood to Pune and then set off to transport onions to Kashmir. Capturing her extraordinary feat, several videos of Jelaja’s road trip were uploaded on a YouTube channel, Puthettu Travel Vlog, where she is seen driving the lorry. Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.