Growing up in a mining area of Jharkhand, Akanksha Kumari remembers being intrigued by the constant references to “roof collapse” and “roof fall” that inspired panic and fear all-round. Little did she imagine she would find out first-hand what these dreaded words meant as she embarked on her career as the first Indian woman mining engineer. 

Since her appointment at Coal India Ltd (CIL) in 2021, only three more women have joined the public section miner. 

So, what inspired her to choose this career path that literally entailed storming a male bastion?

 

“I belong to an area that is famous for coal mining and the locals, though not working for any coal mining company, are nevertheless involved in mining activities. In the school hostel I would often hear my friends talking about ‘roof collapse’ and it made me wonder about the how and why of it? I did not understand then, but today I know the gravity of it,” she says in a chat with businessline.

Societal pressure

After completing Std X, she was in a dilemma over her next course of action. “I was very good at sports and participated in athletics at the national level as well. So, the discussion was whether to go into sports or academics,” she recalled.

Academics won, as getting a job was a priority, she says. After Std XII, she again found herself debating over divergent paths ahead. “The vote was in favour of computer and IT, but that was not an area which interested me. Software was not meant for me,” she says.

Her heart beat, instead, for the challenges and excitement of the mining world. While it wasn’t that tough to convince her father, who is a teacher, and her mother, who is an Anganwadi worker, her hurdles proved more societal in nature. 

“My father spoke to his friend who worked for one of the mining companies and he said mining is not a good field for girls to work in. Coming from a middle class background, you can understand the pressure thereafter,” she says.  

But she forged ahead, only to face the next hurdle… at the counselling level during admission to an engineering course. “The counsellor was not willing to give me mining engineering. But arguments and persuasions worked. In 2018 I passed out with BTech from BIT Sindri, Dhanbad, Jharkhand,” she says.

Workplace challenges

The real challenges were yet to come, as she soon found out. “When it was time for compulsory vocational training, which required training in an underground mine also, the General Manager (Personnel) of the company told me, ‘Who sent you here? Does your head of department not know we do not have facilities (accommodation) for women. Finally, I was given a room at the guest house, but I was told I could not stay alone as I was the only girl in the group. My aunt and my mother took turns staying with me while I underwent my training,” she narrates.

After her studies her first job was with Hindustan Zinc, where she worked in the mines for three years. She then moved on to work in the coal mines of Churi Colliery of Central Coalfields Ltd, a subsidiary of CIL.

Apart from the grind of working six hours (maximum) in the underground mines, she says the bigger challenge for her as a woman is the lack of basic amenities. So she is forced to adapt to the existing conditions that are suited to male workers.

Having opened the doors to the mining world for other young women like her, she does have a word of advice for them: “it is not easy. It is a choice that you make. Come prepared and, if you are ready, go for it.” 

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