Singareni to Recruit Women Dumper Operators for First Time in Company’s History

Hyderabad, May 14 (TNT): Singareni Collieries Company Limited on Thursday announced that it has initiated steps to recruit women dumper operators for the first time in its 133-year history, following directions from the Telangana government to promote women empowerment and provide greater opportunities for women in traditionally male-dominated sectors.
Acting on the instructions of Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka Mallu, the Singareni management has launched the process for recruitment of women dumper operators in its open cast mines.
In open cast mines, the company uses massive dumpers ranging from 60 to 100 tonnes capacity to transport coal and overburden from quarry pits to the surface in its open cast mining operations.
For nearly five decades, these heavy vehicles have been operated exclusively by men due to the physically demanding nature of the work, which involves driving under extreme weather conditions and in round-the-clock three-shift operations.
The Telangana government had directed the company to effectively utilise the skills and efficiency of women employees by providing them suitable opportunities in various operational roles.
Following this, Singareni invited applications from interested women employees willing to work as dumper operators in open cast mines.
Around 35 women employees initially came forward.
Since the role requires a Heavy Motor Vehicle (HMV) licence in addition to a regular driving licence, the company arranged specialised training through the Telangana Institute of Driving Education and Skills, Sircilla.
Singareni provided the heavy vehicle driving training free of cost to the selected women employees.
Out of those trained, 13 women employees successfully completed the programme and informed the management of their readiness to work as dumper operators.
The company said these women employees would be considered in the upcoming recruitment process for dumper operators.
Officials described the initiative as a major step towards women empowerment, stating that the company was introducing a transformational change by enabling women to take up physically demanding and traditionally male-dominated roles in mining operations.
They expressed confidence that more women employees would operate heavy dumpers across Singareni mines in the coming years.

The officials also pointed out that the company had recently constituted a women’s rescue team for the first time in its history.
Some of the trained women employees said they were initially apprehensive about handling such demanding work, but gained confidence during the training and practical sessions.
They said women today are excelling in every field, including space exploration, and operating mining dumpers was also achievable with proper training and opportunity.
The women employees thanked the Telangana government and Singareni management for providing them the opportunity to take up the challenging role.
TNT TS