Tata Steel starts an all-women shift at Noamundi iron mine
Tata Steel has rolled out an all-women shift at its Noamundi iron mine in Jharkhand. This shift will comprise women employees for all the mining activities of the shift including Heavy Earth Moving Machinery (HEMM), shovel, loader, drill, dozer operators, and shift supervision.
«This initiative, India’s first, underscores the company’s unwavering commitment to creating an equitable workplace and empowering women in traditionally male-dominated industries,» the company stated in a press release.
“This all-women shift represents a landmark achievement not only for Tata Steel but also for the Indian mining industry....We are proud to lead this change and will continue to create more opportunities for women specially in our mining ecosystem. This initiative marks a significant addition to the 100 glorious years of mining at Noamundi," D B Sundara Ramam, vice president, raw material, Tata Steel said as stated in the release.
Tata Steel started its diversity initiative, «Women@Mines,» in 2019 through which it deployed women in all shifts at its mines. «Building on this, the Company introduced the “Tejaswini” initiative, aimed at recruiting and training women from local communities to operate Heavy Earth Moving Machinery (HEMM) and participate in the mining ecosystem,» according to the release.
Under the “Tejaswini 2.0” programme launched in 2021, women from nearby communities were trained and inducted as HEMM operators. «The initiative was met with overwhelming enthusiasm and women were deployed across roles such as
