Hyderabad: In a landmark shift, Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) has inducted women into its mine rescue teams for the first time since the company’s founding 136 years ago. Until now, these emergency units had been exclusively male.
SCCL maintains dedicated teams to respond to mining disasters ranging from worker entrapment and underground flooding to toxic gas incidents. The new move follows the successful completion of a 14-day intensive training programme by a group of women employees. The training included rescue drills, emergency response strategies, and survival exercises.
Upon completion, the trainees were certified for operational deployment and are now eligible to join high-risk rescue operations across the company’s coalfields.
Officials described the inclusion of women in these units as a progressive milestone for gender parity in the sector. The trainees reportedly met the same physical and technical benchmarks as their male counterparts, according to internal assessments.
SCCL sources confirmed that these women will be assigned to underground rescue contingents, working alongside men in emergency scenarios where minutes can mean the difference between life and death.
