Goa industry shut, but mining engineering students shine from Rajasthan to Australia

PANAJI: The mining engineering programme at Goa Engineering College (GEC) may have appeared to hit a roadblock two years ago, when admissions had to be stopped due to a dip in enrolments following the Supreme Court mandated shutdown of local mining operations. This, however, this did not deter students who were already pursuing the programme.
Many graduates of the course — the only one of its kind in Goa — have managed to make a mark in the industry within India and abroad in a short time. What’s more, the programme has helped contribute many women to a profession that is traditionally viewed as male-dominated.
Hailing from Valpoi, Sattari, Yogeshwari Rane stands out. An alumna of the 2015 batch of GEC’s mining engineering programme, Rane has become the first female in the Indian mining industry to have obtained a first class mines manager competency certificate (FCMMCC) in the unrestricted category. Having cleared the national-level exam conducted by the directorate general of mines safety, Dhanbad, she now works as the head of planning and development at Vedanta’s mine in Kayad, Rajasthan, GEC officials said.
But Rane isn’t an exception. Aruna Sankatala from Vasco, now mines manager at Tata Steel, has cleared the FCMMCC exam in restricted category, joining an elite group of women in the mining industry.
The list of such achievers doesn’t end there.
Another student, Ridhi Gaunker, functions as senior mining engineer at Vedanta’s mining operations department in Goa, while Priya Pandey — who went on to pursue an MTech in mining engineering from the prestigious IIT, Dhanbad — has now received her appointment order from Australian Mines as mining engineer.
“The students’ achievements have been outstanding,” said GEC principal, Rajesh B Lohani.
Incidentally, women in India were permitted to work in underground mines only from 2019 following a landmark decision by the central government.
The four-year mining engineering degree programme was introduced at GEC from 2011-12. The department was started as a collaboration between the state government and Sesa Goa. It was the first public private partnership (PPP) model in the education sector in Goa, forged under the director of technical education, Vivek Kamat.
“In a course that is conventionally considered suitable for boys, many girls took admissions, graduated with flying colours and also assumed leadership roles in the mining industry,” head of the department Ulhas Sawaiker, said.
It is heartening to see around 10 girls passing out from the mining department in last six years, faculty members said.
Many male graduates from the programme at GEC too have cleared the FCMMCC.
Proposal to restart admission to mining course:
A proposal before the state government has sought revival of the mining engineering programme at Goa College of Engineering (GEC), Farmagudi, admissions to which had been suspended over two years ago.
Officials now feel that as the mining industry everywhere is picking up, the time is ripe to resume admissions to the programme at GEC again.
“The department of mining engineering has state-of-the-art infrastructure, laboratory facilities and a well-qualified faculty. A proposal has been submitted to the government to restart the admissions to the course as students may avail the financial assistance provided by the government for technical education. There may be few seats available under the sponsorship category from mining companies,” GEC officials said.
The recent auctioning of the coal blocks and iron deposits have increased the chances of high growth in the mining sector, including employability. Besides this, the state is in the process of forming a mining corporation to allow revival of iron ore mining activities in Goa.