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Manipadma Jena

From huge cranes to heavy gas cutters, women workers of Tata Steel, Jamshedpur, make light of `manly' jobs.

Jasumati Patel's two-year-old granddaughter has a serious question for her — "Grandma," she asks, "have you now become Papa?"

Jasumati, 40, laughs and says, "Maybe I have!" The toddler's question comes from her observation of how men and women around her usually dress and the change she has seen in her grandmother, of late. On a routine workday, Jasumati now wears a full-sleeved shirt, navy blue trousers and a leather belt; she operates an electrical overhead trawling (EOT) crane.

Until late-2003, Jasumati and nine other women — aged between 33 and 42 years — worked as cleaners at the Tata Steel plant in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand. But April 2004 brought about an amazing mid-career change for these 10 women. After training in mechanical trades and operations, the women are now operating huge cranes, rigging machines, welding machines, gas cutters and other precision instruments.

The change came through `Project Tejaswini', an initiative by Tata Steel to empower its 1,800 women employees. Tejaswini means a woman with immense spiritual and mental power. But this is not the first time that women have stormed male bastions at Tata Steel.

Project Tejaswini was initiated in 2002 by Niroop Mahanty and B.N. Sarangi, from Tata Steel's HR department, and R.B.B. Singh, president of Tata Workers' Union. Having seen women operate heavy mobile equipment during visits abroad, they were sure women workers at Tata Steel could do it too. An in-house advertisement for women junior operators fetched 40 applications.

The applicants included `office girls', whose work was to sweep and mop floors, clean office tables, serve tea and run small errands. The women were assessed for specific abilities required for the job — these ranged from physical strength to a willingness to move out of rigid mindsets.

Thirteen women were selected and they underwent two months of training. Apart from learning to drive heavy payload equipment with a capacity of up to eight tons, such as dumper-trucks, bulldozers, forklifts, ambulances and security trucks, the trainees also learned how each mechanical system functioned. The women learnt interpersonal skills, team building and positive thinking from none other than Bachendri Pal, the first Indian woman to climb Mount Everest. She heads the Tata Steel Adventure Foundation. In fact, the trainees accompanied Bachendr on an organised trekking and rock-climbing expedition.

For all the 23 women, graduating from less-than-ordinary workers to junior operators or junior technicians was no mean task. This included overcoming several social barriers.

"When we opted for the Tejaswini training," says P. Gyaneshwari, "our neighbours asked us incredulously, `Can you really drive those heavy vehicles?' Male colleagues would titter caustically, `Our jobs will not remain ours for long, women are here to take them away!'"

But at every stage of doubt or diffidence, the women received encouragement and support from the project leaders. Gyaneshwari, like several other Tejaswinis, had been given an office girl's job on compassionate grounds after the death of her husband, a Tata Steel employee. She has three children to look after.

Each of the women's personal journey is an eye-opener. "First we refused to learn under a male instructor," says Lakshmi Kumari. "After shedding this inhibition, we agreed to give up saris for salwar suits. Finally, we did get into trousers but we were so shy that we moved around in a huddle, giving each other support. Even today we huddle every Saturday, but now it's like the huddle of the Indian cricketers — to share the Team Tejaswini spirit. The men who gaped at us, the neighbours who jeered at us, now respectfully refer to us as `Driver Sahiba' (madam driver)."

Interestingly, the first batch of 13 women hold a record for accident-free driving since they began working 21 months ago. And it is not just the self-image of the women that has undergone a remarkable transformation; their daily lives and that of their families have also changed significantly.

Domini Murmu, for instance, joined the company as a headload worker. Occasionally, when she was asked to sweep the roads (inside the plant premises), she would sigh with relief. At one point, she only dreamt of sending her son to school. Today, her 8-year-old son attends a well-known school in the city.

Financially too, the women have moved ahead — a Tejaswini now earns about Rs 10,000 a month, more than double the amount she got earlier. From junior operator or junior technician, some of the women could well move up to becoming operators or senior operators; and, potentially, they could be taking home Rs 23,000 a month before they retire.

Working in a male-dominated workplace, do the women ever face sexual harassment? "No, never," asserts Urmila Ekka, Manager - Human Resources, who also coordinates the project. Tejaswinis are given the general shift as the statutory labour law prohibits women from working in any industrial unit between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m.

Significantly, Tata Steel has an Ethics Committee and, since April 2004, it has also instituted a Complaints Committee (on sexual harassment) in keeping with Supreme Court guidelines. Women head both committees.

Women's Feature Service

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