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Women are taking to the road as bus drivers in Uzbekistan.

The government has overturned a law which forbade women from driving vehicles heavier than 2.5 tonnes.

Saodat Shermatova was over the moon when she found out that the restriction had been lifted and immediately signed up for training.

She now takes the number 51 electric bus around the streets of Uzbekistan's capital, Tashkent, the most densely populated city in central Asia.

Independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 led to a more conservative attitude towards women in this largely Muslim country of 35 million.

Under President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, however, in recent years there's been a gradual change with regard to women.

The Uzbek parliament's even introduced a law requiring a 40% share of female candidates in parliamentary elections.

It's seen as an attempt to make the political scene, a scene in which women were generally absent, considerably more balanced.

Although Nargiza Gadoyeva, an ex-driving instructor, has no intention of joining parliament, she's glad to get behind the wheel of the bus, from where she can inspire younger women.

While there's a long way to go, seeing as there are simply two women bus drivers on Tashkent's roads, Shermatova recognises that in her new role, both men and women are generally encouraging.

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