Mumbai: Surekha Yadav, the first woman to pilot a Vande Bharat train, believes it a fallacy that certain professions can only be dominated by men.
It is a woman’s choice what she wants to do, says Yadav.
She told ThePrint: “No field is male dominated. We have to enter it. Nobody says we cannot join any profession. As soon as we step in, it is up to us. There are no ifs and buts in taking up any job.”
Yadav says she is delighted to have gotten this opportunity to pilot a Vande Bharat Express.
“This Vande Bharat train was inaugurated last February and within a month I got the opportunity to drive it. I am very happy and thank the administration for giving me this opportunity,” Yadav said.
Coming from a family of farmers, Yadav chose to study engineering. Yadav started working since 1989, and has been the first woman to loco pilot suburban trains in Mumbai, a long-distance train in the Mumbai division, and now the high-speed Vande Bharat Express.
Yadav, who is from Maharashtra’s Satara, piloted the state-of-the-art train from Solapur station and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) in Mumbai on 13 March 13. She was felicitated at platform number 8 at the CSMT.
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had said in a tweet: “Vande Bharat — powered by Nari Shakti. Smt. Surekha Yadav, the first woman loco pilot of Vande Bharat Express.”
It wasn’t her dream job, but has started liking the job. “Once you enter the professional field, you have to follow it through. Everything will come by,” she says.
Also read: Parliament panel raises concern over pace of Vande Bharat train production
Source: The Print
