Women can always lead the way, says India’s first tribal Asst Loco pilot of Vande Bharat Express

Kolkata: It will be an all-tribal affair inside the driver’s cabin of the Tata Nagar-Patna Vande Bharat Express when it is flagged off from the Tata Nagar (Jamshedpur) railway station by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 15.

The Prime Minister will be flagging off 15 Vande Bharat Expresses from various parts of the country during the event, but the train from Tatanagar to Patna will be the only one that he will be seeing off personally.

It will also be special for another reason as both the loco-pilot and the Assistant Loco-pilot will be from the tribal community from Jharkhand.

While S S Munda will be the loco pilot, Ritika Tirkey (27) will be in charge as the assistant. Ritika is probably the first tribal woman in the country to be in charge of a Vande Bharat Express as an assistant loco-pilot.

Talking to IANS, this mechanical engineer from BIT, Mesra, said that she believes that women in India can achieve all their goals if they try hard enough.

“Yes, I am extremely happy to have been given this opportunity and I shall give my best. I believe that women in India can achieve everything so long as they have that passion inside them,” Ritika, originally from Gumla, near Ranchi, said.

After obtaining her BE degree from BIT, Mesra, Ritika opted for a career in the Indian Railways. She joined the Chakradharpur Division of South Eastern Railway (SER) in 2019 as a shunter and then went on to drive goods and passenger trains before being promoted to the rank of a Senior Assistant Loco Pilot and given the opportunity to assist in driving the Vande Bharat Express.

“There was always the spirit of adventure involved when I decided to join the railways instead of looking for a regular job elsewhere. I would like it if more women take this up as a career. Women can always lead the way,” said Ritika, who now lives in Jamshedpur (Tatanagar), with her husband.

Deepak Jha, principal chief operations manager (SER), said that this will certainly inspire other women, including those from the tribal community, to aspire for careers in the railways.