Sixty poor, elderly women Friday took a free ride, that too for the first time, on the Kolkata Metro on the occasion of India's 68th Independence Day.
The 60 women took a 20-km ride from the Sovabazar station in north Kolkata to the Kavi Subhash station in the southern fringes of the city and back. The ride was organised by the Kolkata Metro Railway.
"Around 60 poor ladies took the train and back. This was their first Metro ride. For their enjoyment, a troupe of Baul singers (wandering minstrels of West Bengal) also put up a performance," Kolkata Metro spokesperson R.N. Mahapatra told IANS.
The trip was a collaborative effort by the Metro Railway Women's Welfare Organisation.
