Akanksha Kumari creates history; India's first woman engineer to work in underground mines

Jharkhand’s Akanksha Kumari has become Coal India’s first woman mining engineer to work in an underground mine, Central Coalfields Ltd (CCL) said on August 31. According to a social media post, Kumari is a graduate of Birsa Institue of Technology Sindri. The 25-year-old is the second female mining engineer in Coal India Ltd (CIL) and the first one to join CIL at its Churi underground mines in the North Karanpura area in Jharkhand. 

In a statement, CCL said, “Women employees have been shouldering the responsibilities ranging from officer to doctor to 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 of the world will witness this progressive change. The enormity of her achievement can be gauged by the fact that Akanksha is the second mining engineer in the Maharatna conglomerate Coal India Limited and the first woman to work in an underground coal mine," it added. 

According to PTI, Kumari is a resident of barkagaon in Hazaribagh district. She pursued primary and secondary education in Navodaya Vidyalaya. As she belongs to a mining belt, she had witnessed coal mining activities from close quarters. Kumari developed a natural inquisitiveness towards mines since childhood, which led her to opt for mining engineering at Birsa Institute of Technology Sindri.

Prior to CCL, Kumari had worked for three years in Hindustan Zinc Limited’s Balaria mines in Rajasthan. The statement said that Kumari credits her family for unflinching support to follow her dreams. She said that joining CIL was the fulfilment of her childhood dream. She now hopes to deliver her best for the company. 

‘Historic moment’ 

Following the announcement, Union Minister of Coal, Mines and Parliamentary Affairs, Pralhad Joshi, congratulated Ms Kumari on her achievement and called it a part of progressive governance. BJP MP PC Mohan also hailed it as a “historic moment for gender representation”. The Ministry of Coal also congratulated the engineer and wrote: "You are an inspiration to many women”. 

(With inputs from PTI)