The all-woman petrol station in Alipore. A Telegraph picture

They have breached a male bastion and are raring to go further but the Marxist government is not willing to play gender bender.

Calcutta?s only all-woman petrol station ? Petrolube Centre in Alipore ? wants to keep the outlet open 24 hours. While the police are not opposed to the idea, the state government is throwing a rule book tantrum ? Section 5.1 of the West Bengal Labour Laws does not allow any extension of working hours for women.

The owner of the outlet, Suksham Singh, has been left with no option but to start night operations with male staffers.

?Over a year has passed since we applied to the labour department for clearance to start night services with our women employees,? said Singh. ?I am calling the officials everyday, but they are unbending. I have recently started the night shift with staffers from my Hyde Road petrol station.?

The 19-member women team of the Alipore outlet, inaugurated on March 15, 2004, includes guards trained in martial arts. Some of them are graduates, while the others are pursuing studies and working at the same time.

?International Women?s Day is celebrated with much fanfare every year, but there is no end to the government?s discrimination against women. All the girls here are eager to work at night and senior officers of Calcutta Police have assured us of help, but the government thinks otherwise,? said an employee of the outlet, who also boasted that Sourav Ganguly and Konkona Sen Sharma are among their customers.

Why is the government so reluctant to let the girls work at night? ?The West Bengal Labour Laws and the Factories Act impose certain restrictions on the working hours of women. There are some technical problems as well,? said state labour minister Mohammed Amin. He, however, did not elaborate on the ?technical problems?.

Refuting the argument, CPM state committee member and secretary of the All India Democratic Women?s Association Shyamali Gupta said the labour laws the government is citing are meant for those who work in mines or other places. ?The laws should not be applicable to private enterprises like petrol stations.?

Deputy commissioner (headquarters) Anuj Sharma said: ?The owner approached me last year. We have no objection to her proposal and will ensure patrolling at night.?