Linewomen prove their mettle, scaling heights

Hyderabad: Climbing towering electrical poles for taking up repairs is not an easy task. But competing on par with men, five women, who are working as junior linewomen in Mahabubnagar district, are drawing everyone’s attention with their outstanding work by climbing 20 to 40-feet poles and winning accolades from senior officials as well. Despite knowing […]

Hyderabad: Climbing towering electrical poles for taking up repairs is not an easy task. But competing on par with men, five women, who are working as junior linewomen in Mahabubnagar district, are drawing everyone’s attention with their outstanding work by climbing 20 to 40-feet poles and winning accolades from senior officials as well. Despite knowing that it is a risky job to climb electrical poles, the five women — Shivaleela, Naseem Begum, Swapna, Sunitha and Nandhini — are giving the men a run for their money with their work.

For the first time in the history of TSTransco, these women were among the 200 selected State-wide as junior linewomen and posted at Konetipuram 400 KV sub-station in Vanguru mandal in Nagarkurnool district after completing all relevant examinations including the test pertaining to climbing of electrical poles.

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Initially, there was some discouragement from male colleagues who said women cannot climb poles due to various reasons. Dispelling all doubts, the women started discharging their duties with ease leaving everyone surprised. With their exemplary work, these women have become role models for others in the district.

A senior Transco official said that climbing a 40-feet pole and taking up repair works was not an easy job. Those climbing the towering poles should first carefully walk on insulators. If anyone loses balance, then the chances of their falling are more and this could even result in broken bones. Some linemen had suffered fractures after accidentally falling from poles while attending to repair works. But these women were going about their work with ease and without any fear under the supervision of senior officials.

According to officials, close to 200 women got appointment orders to work as linewomen on par with linemen and carry out electrical repair works on poles in October 2021. Since then, the women started working as junior linewomen in Telangana and climbing poles to attend to repair works duly adhering to the safety norms prescribed by the government. The recruitment process of over 650 people including 199 women was finalised in 2017 but the matter landed in court. Once it was resolved, the Transco officials handed over the appointment orders to the women as Dasara gift in October.