Blast the past: Tata Steel hires women in mines

MUMBAI: Pratixa Kher will be a pioneer in the brown and dusty Noamundi Hills of Jharkhand, which supply the iron ore that feeds Tata Steel’s blast furnaces. She will be among those shattering a gender barrier – women managers directing mining operations. Kher is among engineers hired by Tata Steel who will be doing jobs traditionally considered too hazardous and too physically taxing for women.The steel major has recruited 10 officers – including mining, electrical, mechanical and mineral processing engineers – who have been deployed at the Noamundi Ore, Mines and Quarries (OMQ) division and started on Sunday. The company is also on a drive to hire more women employees at the mine.This follows the government scrapping Section 46 of the Mines Act 1952, more than 60 years old, which imposed restrictions on women’s employment in mines in February. Women can now work in underground mines and curbs that prohibited them from working night shifts in surface mines have also been removed.“We had women working in general roles in mining areas earlier. However, the change in law has opened the opportunity of women to be deployed in mines 24x7 even in night shifts. Starting September 1, we have deployed women engineers at our Noamundi OMQ,” said Arun Misra, vice president, raw material, Tata Steel.70941221 Kher, whoholds a first-class certificate in mining from the Directorate General Of Mines Safety DGMS, Dhanbad, has been been recruited as a senior manager at Noamundi, said Misra, adding that she will be shift in-charge, leading a group of 40-50 people, including men and women.The company has created an ecosystem in and around the mines to make it friendly for women workers. This includes deployment of women security personnel, transport services, female drivers, CCTVs and GPS trackers in the vehicles, rest rooms, sanitary napkin vending machines, etc. The company is also adhering to the rule of not less than three women in a shift and obtaining the written consent of the concerned employees.This new framework also opens up employment opportunities for women who want to pursue allied technical jobs in mines such as fitters, welders, channel operators, drill operators and drivers.Misra said there was a clear business case for employing women in mines as it leads to the generation of new and innovative ideas, enhancing access to a diverse set of talent and customers.“Women will bring in unique qualities to the table, including different ways of thinking, different sensitivities to problem solving, and a multidimensional approach,” said Misra. “We are on the look-out for more women for our mines. We want women who would compete in the organisation and would see a future for them and are not intimidated by the work around.”In seven-eight years, the company aims to identify a woman chief of mines to head its mining operation.

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