16 September,2009 07:23 AM IST | | Ali Yasir and Surender Sharma
The Metro link has not just connected the rest of Delhi with the Walled City, but given wings to its many young Muslim women, too
For 20-year-old Shaziya Shafiq, all it took to transform life was a silver streak of hope. One that flashes past Chandni Chowk and Chawri Bazaar every five minutes. That which has set hundreds like herself free, and helped many more fuel their aspirations. A small step for the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) proved a giant leap for womanhood in the Walled City.
The packed buses and 'phat phatiyas', which were the only mode of transport available for the middle class dwellers of Old Delhi earlier, were never considered safe for girls.
"Most of the families, already reluctant to educate girls, found all the reason to stop their daughters from pursuing education beyond the local school," said Shaziya, a final year BA (programme) student of Delhi University. She lives in Farash Khana, half a kilometre away from the Hauz Qazi Chowk entry to the Chawri Bazar Metro station.
The place is known to be the epicentre of Mughal culture, and Shaziya's house is not very far from the biggest market of spices and pickle in the city Khari Baoli. But many conservative families like her own have climbed over the already crumbling Wall, thanks to the train to the other side of the town.
"Commuting to college was never so easy," Shaziya beams, books in one hand, Metro token in the other. She thanks God, and the government, for the number of early marriages has plummeted like never before, and the girls are finally going out. The super service saves on much time, money, hassle and dangers.u00a0
Over the years, the heritage hotspot has seen improvement in other areas too, thanks to better connectivity to city centres and distant districts. Small-time businesses, the most rampant way to livelihood in the region, have also seen a never-before boom. The Metro service has allowed shopkeepers and shoppers an access to Connaught Place, which is one stop and seven minutes away from Chawri Bazar.
A number of families from the grand old gullies now spend evenings at the India Gate lawns, again a mere 11 minutes on board.
The Metro line between Vishwavidyalaya and Central Secretariat was opened in July 2005. By 2009, it opened up a whole new world for an earlier cut-off community.
The section has now been extended up to Jahangirpuri. The horizons of hope are ever-expanding.u00a0u00a0
Figure it out
>>About 38% of Muslims in urban areas and 27% in rural areas live below the poverty level.
>>Muslims are concentrated in locations with poor infrastructure facilities. This affects their access to basic services like education, health facilities and transport.
>>Villages with Muslim concentration are not well-served with pucca roads.
>>Schools beyond primary level are fewer in Muslim localities. Dedicated schools for girls are far fewer.
Courtesy: Sachar Committee report
