Hazaribagh girl is Coal India’s first woman engineer to work in an underground mine

Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, August 31

Aakanksha Kumari has truly lived up to her name. She just etched her name in history by becoming Maharatna company Coal India’s first woman engineer to work in an underground mine.

Hailing from Hazaribagh, Aakanksha grew up close to coal mines, witnessing what she describes as a fascinating field dominated by men.

But today she stands tall among colleagues, having shattered a massive glass ceiling.

“No dream is impossible to achieve,” says the rising star of Coal India, one of the world’s largest coal mining establishments.

Aakanksha, a mining graduate, will now be worn at the Churi underground mines, in the North Karanpura area of Central Coalfields Limited (CCL).

In the process, she emerges as the first woman mining engineer to join CCL where women employees have been shouldering the responsibilities ranging from officer to doctor to the security guard and even running heavy machines like dumper and shovel and have excelled in each role.

However, this is the first time when the core mining activity of one of the biggest coal mining companies in the world will witness such progressive change.

The enormity of Aakanksha’s achievement can be gauged from the fact that she is only the second mining engineer in the Maharatna Conglomerate Coal India Limited and the first woman to work in an underground coal mine.

A resident of Barkagaon in Hazaribagh district, Akanksha completed her schooling from Navodaya Vidyalaya.

Belonging to a mining belt, she witnessed coal mining activities from close quarters and was enamoured of it since her childhood.

“I developed a natural inquisitiveness towards mines and their activities since childhood, which led me to opt for mining engineering at Birsa Institute of Technology Sindri in Dhanbad.

Before joining Coal India Limited, Aakanksha worked for three years in Hindustan Zinc Limited’s Balaria mines in Rajasthan.

She credits her family for unflinching support to follow her dreams.

She said that joining Coal India Limited was the fulfilment of her childhood dream.

“I hope to deliver my best for the company,” said the engineer.

Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi, CMD, CCL P.M Prasad and Directors of the CCL family hailed Aakanksha’s achievement today.

Joshi said, “This is part of the government policy of progressive governance. To promote gender equality and generate more opportunities, the government under PM Narendra Modi has allowed women to work in underground coal mines.

Akanksha Kumari becomes the first woman mining engineer in Coal India headquarters to work in an underground mine. It’s a big day.”