Girl power in action: Singareni Collieries to allocate two mines for women staff to operate

Hyderabad: Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL) is preparing to dedicate two coal mines -- one open cast and one underground-- exclusively for women employees, marking a historic step towards gender inclusivity in the mining sector.

N Balaram, chairman and managing director of SCCL, said the company is in the process of identifying two mines where women will be deployed and if everything goes well, the operations may begin from next month.

“Earlier the underground mining activities were confined to men only. Women were not there due to several reasons. But organisations such as the Army, Navy and Air Force also started taking women in crucial wings also. Coal India also started taking women on par with men.

We thought that it is time they are engaged in underground mine works also. Initially we decided to allot one opencast and one underground mine exclusively for women,” Balaram told PTI.

The SCCL has already identified 16 locations where women can be placed, the official said, adding that there should be several precautions before allotting the mines and also 10 to 12 days training will be given to those opted to work at underground mines.

“The women employees are enthusiastic about the idea,” he said.

A typical mine depending on the size needs 120 to 200 employees to operate a mine According to SCCL sources, currently female staff strength grew to six per cent of the 40,000 workforce of the organisation, from a meager two per cent a decade ago. The number has significantly grown after a new law by the Centre in 2019 allowed women to work in mines.

Some of the women officials who joined about 30 years ago are now heading different departments of the miner.

Backed by 33 per cent reservation brought in by the Telangana government, women are set to get about 200 jobs as part of recruitment drive to fill 599 posts in SCCL.

SCCL, which operates 17 opencast and 22 underground mines in 6 districts of Telangana, is jointly owned by the state government the Centre on a 51:49 equity basis.

The coal miner clocked Rs 4701 crore profit during the last financial year on an income of Rs 37,00 crore.

It produced over 70 million tons and dispatched almost similar quantities in FY24.