Tata Steel’s West Bokaro Division onboards 16 women HEMM operators under Women@Mines programme

Giving further impetus to its D&I intitiatives, Tata Steel’s West Bokaro Division on Wednesday announced that it has onboarded 16 women Heavy Earth Moving Machinery (HEMM) operators in all shifts under its flagship programme - Women@Mines.

Tata Steel’s Women@Mines programme aims to provide technical training to unskilled women workers and enable them to work in core jobs in mines. 

West Bokaro Division, the first coal division in the Company to launch this initiative, received over 446 applications out of which 16 candidates were selected after a written test and a personal interview. The minimum qualification required was matriculation. These candidates will undergo intensive training for a year to hone their skills as HEMM operators.

After successful completion of their training, they will be deployed as Operations Assistant to operate HEMM at Quarry SE, which includes dumper, dozer, shovel, excavator, and drill.

Atrayee Sarkar, Vice President, Human Resource Management, Tata Steel, said: “Tata Steel has always provided career opportunities to the talented youth from the community, and Women@Mines at West Bokaro is yet another milestone in this journey.

"Focused on industry-wide efforts to foster a diverse and inclusive culture, Tata Steel is making sure it provides a safe and an enabling environment to its workforce. We take great pride in welcoming onboard the new women recruit at our West Bokaro site and wish them an empowering career ahead.”

D B Sundara Ramam, Vice President, Raw Materials, Tata Steel, said: “Our Women@Mines initiative intends to provide a wider career choice for women who wish to be a part of Tata Steel’s growth story. The successful deployment of the first batch of 22 women at Noamundi iron mine in 2019 had given us immense confidence to push for greater women participation in a sector that has hitherto been considered a male domain. We will continue to work towards making mining an attractive and rewarding proposition for the young talent.”

Sharing her joy on the occasion, Sushmita Mandal, a HEMM operator, said: “From learning to drive a bicycle, bike, and car, to gearing up to drive HEMM, I have come up a long way. Nothing is impossible if you are up for the challenge. I am happy that I will now share my workspace with my father and other male colleagues. This opportunity will not only weave a better future for all the aspiring girls in the region but will also inspire local housewives.”