Enjoying a spot of heavy duty

It has taken awhile for this mother of a 22-year-old son to operate mobile equipments. But Sunaina Devi finally feels that she is doing something worthwhile, reports B Vijay Murty.

It has taken awhile for this mother of a 22-year-old son to operate mobile equipments. But Sunaina Devi finally feels that she is doing something worthwhile.

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Serving with Tata Steel, she is a proud Tejaswini. Tejaswini is basically a women’s empowerment programme that initially sought to empower 13 female employees in the age group of 30-40 years who were working as attendants (their primary job was to clean the shop floor).

Soon these female employees were transformed into proficient operators of tractors, forklifts, loader-cum-excavators, and pay loaders. Says Asha Hansda, “When I operate the bulldozer, sitting 8 feet high, I feel like I’m on top of the world. I also drive the heaviest dumper.” Laxmi Kumari says, “When my neighbours address me as driver sahiba instead of chaiwali, my heart swells with pride.” The first batch holds a record for accident-free driving since they began.