Women miners: Jharkand's newest entrants in mineral extraction

Women working at eastern India's iron ore and coal mines have broken the glass ceiling and they are now working shoulder-to-shoulder with their male counterparts or even independently in the sector, once considered a male dominion. They also operate heavy earth-moving machines, a feat unthinkable for women a few years ago. Women are also managing an entire shift at the Noamundi mines, operated by Tata Steel Limited in West Singhbhum district.

This welcome change was brought about by the director general of mines safety after it tweaked the rule in 2019 to allow women in core mining operations.

Tata Steel's chief people officer Atrayee Sanyal, said, "When we saw not many girls were applying for jobs, we decided to launch a drive to hire them. As a result, the number of applicants has shot up to 6,000 today as against around 150-odd applications in the initial years for 25-30 positions."

Now, men are eager to send their daughters and even daughters-in-law to mining work and support them. In one case, a young woman with a small kid was thinking of quitting her job after commuting for 35-40 minutes to work. But her father-in-law helped her in taking care of the child and asked her to work, highlighting the support the women get from their families.

Many women, who left their studies at a younger age, are also returning to schools to get mining jobs. "They are back to school as they want a class X pass certificate which would fetch them a job at the mines," an official said.

At present, Noamundi mines, which have been operating for the last 100 years and are located on the Jharkhand-Odisha border with a production capacity of 9.03 million tonnes, employ 207 women of whom 75 are in the core operations. Over 90% of the women workforce is local. Unlike other mines in the world, Naomundi has been surviving for such a long period because of sustainable mining and close engagement with the local community.

Similarly, at NTPC's Pakri Barwadih mine in Hazaribag's Barkagaon, 24 women, known as "haulpak" drivers, are operating 100-tonne mining trucks. It is India's first mine to employ women "haulpak" drivers.

Women have also taken charge of blasting operations and explosive management in opencast mines run by Central Coalfields Limited in Ramgarh district.

Sharing her experience, miner Bharati Kumari said, "People don't have faith about women's capability to work at mines. ‘How will you work in a male-dominated field?', my relatives used to taunt me when I got a job at Noamundi. " Now, Bharati has been working for two years at Noamundi.

Manju Kumari Baitha, another miner whose mother also works at Noamundi, echoed Bharati. "We two sisters grew up hearing that none of us would get our mother's job," she said, adding how her employment had frustrated those negative thoughts.

Like Bharati and Manju, there are many women miners who have not only earned to support their families but also gave them respect, by proving their mettle in tough terrain.

Narrating her initial days, Manju said, "I was shaken by the very sight of a huge machine. I wondered how I would run this when I don't even know how to ride a scooty."

Nauni Dhan also had a similar experience. "Initially, we were amazed by the sheer size of these vehicles — even their tyres are twice our height. Though we never imagined operating such massive machines, our hard work and training have paid off," said the "haulpak driver" at Pakri Barwadih.

To allay their work fears, mine authorities hired drivers to teach them the initial lessons and within weeks, they mastered the art. According to Atul Bhatnagar, general manager (OMQ), since the women started with very structured training, their performance was better, and faults were minimal.


Despite the crucial role of women, they make up only 15% of the mining workforce globally. In India, the figure stands at 7%. The Covid-19 pandemic further reduced opportunities for women.

(With inputs from Vishvendu Jaipuriar and NK Agrawal)