Manju Devi Is First Woman Porter Of North-West Railways

It’s been more than a century since women began making strides in the workforce and started venturing into traditionally male-dominated professions. One such person who has broken into a traditionally male profession is Manju Devi, the first woman porter of the North-West Railways. Being a coolie (porter) is a profession that is considered a male bastion.

Manju lost her husband 10 years ago. She has three teenage children. Undaunted, she alone runs her family. Death and hardships knocked at her door, However, she didn’t let it knock her down.

Also: Varanasi Gets Its First Woman Coolie

In 2013, Manju became the first woman porter for the entire North Western Railway region. She started working at the Jaipur railway station.

The 36-year-old porter and a mother of three is the lone female porter of the 177 porter force working at the station

The sudden death of her husband turned her world upside down.

Also: Indian Railways Plans to Increase Women Security Staff

After losing her husband Mahadev, she approached the authorities to confirm if she could get his job. The authorities reflected no objection. But told her that there were no women porters at the Railway station and it would be difficult for her. However, later she got the badge number.

She took over the job and acquired her deceased husband’s license no. 15. The authorities even trained her for a period of 6 months. Being illiterate, she had certain difficulties in locating coaches and seats. She talked about her problems with the authorities. After this, the authorities trained her for 6 months.

She revealed how difficult it was for her.

“Initially, even a small suitcase seemed like a mountain to me. But it wasn’t just the physical strain that was pulling me down; I was unable to get over my hesitation of working with men."

She revealed how difficult it had been for her. She said, "I hardly ate or slept properly and as a result got really sick. I even had to be hospitalized for a few days.”

Manju was encouraged and counseled by her mother. She then decided to be more serious with this profession and things became better. She even designed her own uniform. Dressed in a red kurta and white salwar, she works multiple shifts every day.

Also: Indian Railways Felicitates Women’s Cricket Team; Awards Rs 1.30 Crores

Manju Devi was among 112 women who were felicitated by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, besides former beauty queens Aishwarya Rai and Nicole Faria and mountaineer Bachendri Pal, Anshu Jamsenpa, missile woman Tessy Thomas and private detective Rajani Pandit.

She was among 90 women achievers from different backgrounds who gathered at Rashtrapati Bhavan on January 20, this year. President Ram Nath Kovind got overwhelmed and said that he got “emotional” on hearing her story.

Manju Devi is dignifying her role and responsibilities both as a mother and a working professional. It is her courage and determination that helped her survivebas a porter. She said, “I am tougher than I was before and my life has started moving on the right track. I want to motivate other women like me. Nothing is impossible if you think you can do it.”

Similarly is the story of Sandhya Marawi, a 30-year-old woman who is among the 45 male porters at the Katni Railway Station in Madhya Pradesh. The responsibility of her family fell on her shoulders after the death of her husband. She is equally effective as any other porter at the station.

Breaking all the stereotypes, both Manju and Sandhya took up the jobs in order to feed their children and family. It was difficult for them to take up this job of being a coolie. However, their determination to help their families lead a comfortable life is inspirational.

Picture Credit: Tribune

Also Read: Southern Railways Launches 24/7 All-Women Facilitation Centre

More stories by Deepali!

Deepali Is An Intern With SheThePeople.TV