Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Time was when the power department, be it supply of power, maintenance of power lines or any other work, was a male bastion. A man’s job, performed by ‘powerful’ men.
Times are changing, and society should know that women have now started working for the power distribution company at every level – line work, zone guidance, and as distribution centre in-charge.
Aranya Nagar Zone in the city is being commanded by a female engineer Bhagyashree Dangode and it carters around 13,000 consumers and generates Rs 3 crore in revenue.
Bhagyashree’s command work is not limited to her sitting in the office. She is often seen on the field instructing the linewomen on how to climb up the electric poles and cut or join power lines safely.
She has the full backing of the senior officers of West Discom, who believe in giving full opportunity to women to show their mettle on the field.
Bhagyashree along with her team of linewomen, routinely check transformers, repair line faults and if needed, even take action against defaulters.
Bhagyashree said, “The task is challenging, and we have to be available round the clock. If there is any technical fault, every effort is made to rectify it immediately so that there is no disruption in power supply.”
PINK ZONE
The Aranya Nagar zone was started as ‘Pink Zone’. The linewomen in this zone including Priyanka Avasare, Kiran Maurya, Ritvika Bokare and others are working to ensure there is no interruption in the power supply.
Challenges faced during daily work
Bhagyashree said, “Although we routinely face many challenges, dealing with consumers of Niranjanpur Basti and Raghunandan Bagh Basti is very tough. Often consumers get angry when the power is turned off due to maintenance work or for some other genuine reason.
“We have to explain things to them patiently. As we are women, often men have reservations when a woman explains the technicalities of the problem,” she said.
(To receive our E-paper on WhatsApp daily, please click here. To receive it on Telegram, please click here. We permit sharing of the paper's PDF on WhatsApp and other social media platforms.)
