In their early 20s, N Annapoorani and Pooja Ashok are still relatively new at Ashok Leyland's plant in Hosur, near the TN-Karnataka border. Both women were raised by single mothers who continue to work day jobs. It was only a year ago when both operators found themselves on what would go on to become the company's first-ever women-only production line.
While they are entrusted with the task of assembling truck engines, both say their manufacturing jobs have moved beyond being just another day at the office.
"There's so much respect for my uniform at home," says Annapoorani, reflecting on how much life has changed since working at the plant as we meet her on the factory floor, "Moreover, when I see one of these trucks on the road, I tell my mother that I made the engine that powers these trucks — that's a matter of pride for her." Her colleague, Pooja, chimes in. "This has always been seen as a men-oriented job," she says, "When women came in, we became equal (to men), we keep challenging men that we can also do anything in this world."
It has been a year since Ashok Leyland's 130-employee-strong, all-women team at the company's Hosur plant began assembling truck engines. In this period, the company's young and dynamic team has gone from strength to strength, clocking a whopping 20,000 engines assembled under one roof, even as it continues to break stereotypes.
While Leyland's Hosur experiment could well be written off as tokenism, the company says starting a production line of only women has made for some interesting learnings.
"Close to 20,000 engines can be made from these lines," says Ganesh Mani, President and COO, "What was very surprising to us is that in less than five months, this line was able to surpass other lines in terms of production, productivity and quality level."
Today, Leyland says it wants more gender diversity across all its production lines. The company is aiming to maintain a 60-40 gender mix in favour of women at its MHCV plant in Pantnagar. In Hosur, a large number of its workforce at the all-women line are local talent from surrounding neighbourhoods.
However, there are also those like Arti Kumar and Rajani Rathour who moved to town from Uttarakhand, with their families. The plant, they say, has become their new home multiple challenges notwithstanding.
"I am the only executive who brings my child who is a one-and-a-half years old, to day care," says Arti, who is a maintenance executive at the line, "There are times I am unable to meet her all day because that's the rush we encounter — we want numbers." Then, there are challenges like acceptance back home. "When I joined an industrial field, my family wasn't accepting that I work here," says her colleague, Rajani, who is a quality executive on the line, "After some time, when I began feeling good here, they supported me."
Leyland's Hosur plant has a maximum capacity of 2 lakh trucks, a tenth of which have engines assembled by a team comprising only women. Chances are that percentage could get a lot higher soon.
(Edited by : Anand Singha)
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