For the first time in the history of Indian Railways, an all-women team has been formed for maintenance of coaches.
The gang of 20 will be working in Guwahati, under Northeast Frontier Railways (NFR), from Thursday, 8 March, which coincides with International Women’s Day. While the youngest in the group is a 30-year-old, the senior-most woman is just eight months away from retirement, The Shillong Times reported.
There are nearly 1,500 technicians working under the Guwahati Coach Maintenance Depot, of which around 120-130 are women.
The official press release from the Chief Public Relations Officer at NFR said, “With the increase in number of trains from the Guwahati station, there was an increase in the maintenance needs of the incoming coaches in the pitmen at the Coach Maintenance Depot, Guwahati. The pit line is the maintenance work of the coaches once a train reaches its termination.”
The maintenance work at the pit lines has mostly been men’s domain, the press release stated, with the women mostly involved in ancillary maintenance pertaining to repair and indication board painting.
This group of 20 were given classroom training throughout February on the all maintenance work before they start their newly-assigned roles.
The Shillong Times quoted Rita Devi, a member of the new team, as saying, “I am happy to be a part of this team. We are technically trained personnel and we are glad that we have more responsibility now.”
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