ECR gets first women guards for its trains

VARANASI: Jyotika Kumari and Sudha Kumari became the first women guards to operate goods trains at East Central Railway on Wednesday. The two women guards, along with women trainee guards, operated goods trains between Gaya and Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya railway stations on Wednesday.
It was for the first time that two women were engaged as guards by the ECR. The duo had joined in April after qualifying the guard recruitment exam of Indian Railways.

Sudha Kumari, along with a trainee Payal Rani, boarded the guard coach of a goods train at Gaya railway station early morning on Wednesday. The duo were accorded a warm welcome by the officials of Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya railway station.

After an hour, Jyotika Kumar, along with a trainee Ritu Rekha, operated another goods train from Gaya to Pt DDU railway station. The team of railway officials led by station director Himanshu Shukla welcomed the duo and congratulated Jyotika and Sudha for successfully operating the goods trains on their maiden journey.

Excited to have guarded the trains for the first time, Jyotika and Sudha said that while preparing for the competitive exams they also filled the forms of guard recruitment in Indian Railways and qualified it.

The ECR Pt Deen Dayal Upadhyaya division public relation officer Prithvi Raj said that the duo had joined in April and after completing their training they were given freight trains to operate as per the norm.

As per the information, the railway officials said the South Central Railway had given the opportunity to a woman to operate goods train as guard for the first time in July 2013.