Tata Steel announces the winners of season 3 of ‘Women Of Mettle’ scholarship programme
Jamshedpur: Tata Steel announced the winners of the 3rd season of its pioneering initiative ‘Women Of Mettle’ scholarship programme, aimed at encouraging gender diversity and inclusion in the manufacturing sector. The 3rd edition of the programme witnessed participation from 700 plus second year female engineering students from over 50 premier engineering institutes across India, including the IITs, NITs and the likes.
The winners were announced yesterday at the Grand Finale held in Jamshedpur. The occasion was graced by the presence of Mr. Sanjiv Paul, Vice President (Safety, Health & Sustainability), Tata Steel, and Mr. Avneesh Gupta, Vice President, Shared Services, Tata Steel, as Chief Guest and Guest of Honour respectively. In addition, they were also part of the esteemed jury panel.
Mr. Sanjiv Paul, Vice President (Safety, Health & Sustainability), Tata Steel, said: “Women Of Mettle scholarship programme is a one-of-its-kind diversity and inclusion initiative not just in India’s steel sector, but across the wider spectrum of the country’s manufacturing sector. Going forward as the country grows and progresses, it would become more of a manufacturing hub than it is today and we will need to leverage the full potential of 50% of our human resource. For various reasons, the participation of women in the manufacturing sector has been low in India. As a pioneer in bringing the best HR and labour practices in the country, Tata Steel will continue to work towards this cause and enhance diversity in the workplace. The winners of the third season of WOM and the past winners are now the role models for ensuring a greater participation of women in the manufacturing sector.”
Mr. Avneesh Gupta, Vice President, Shared Services, Tata Steel, said: “It’s been an evening of celebrating women and manufacturing. I am extremely impressed by the quality of presentations and ideas presented. The pioneering initiative of Women Of Mettle has been gathering momentum with every passing edition. Manufacturing is a core sector for a growing economy like India and we believe with more participation of women in the manufacturing and technical space, the sector will benefit immensely.”
The top 10 women of mettle receive Rs.2 lakh scholarship each, disbursed over the next two years – in their 3rd and 4th year of the engineering course. They will also be given an opportunity to work with Tata Steel as a paid intern in their third year followed by an offer to join the Tata Steel family as a Management Trainee Technical (MTT). Women of Mettle ranked 11 to 30 are given a paid internship opportunity; the candidates ranked between 31 to 50 are given pre-placement interview (PPI) opportunity.
Since the inception of this unique and pioneering initiative in 2017, a total of 21 women have joined the Tata Steel family as employees (MTTs) through the programme.
WOM initiative was set up to identify, groom, and encourage female engineering talent for India’s manufacturing sector. The applicants go through a rigorous selection process that involves exploring and designing solutions to technical challenges. Out of the total applicants, a total of 50 participants were shortlisted basis the technical assessment. These select group of 50 then work on specially curated case challenges for a period of 1.5 months under the guidance of assigned mentors and present it to the jury. Top 10 women of mettle are subsequently selected to present their ideas and solutions to the esteemed jury in the grand finale. Participants in the third season of WOM represented a diverse background of 2nd year of B. Tech. students specialising in Computer Science, Information Technology, Electrical, Electronic, Mechanical, Metallurgy, Mining, Industrial Engineering, Mining Machinery, Mineral Processing, Chemical, Civil Engineering, Ceramic Engineering and Production Engineering.
In line with the company’s target of having 20% women officers in the workforce by 2025 and the recent modifications in the Law, the Human Resource Management division and the Raw Material division have undertaken an initiative called “Women @ Mines”. This initiative will focus on four aspects namely Communication, Amenities, Recruitment of Women officers and non-officers, and Tejaswini 2.0.
Earlier this week, Tata Steel became the first company in India to deploy women in all shifts in mines and OMQ (Ore, Mines & Quarries) division becomes the first division in Tata Steel to deploy women in all shifts with effect from September 1, 2019.
Tata Steel also started two shifts at its Jamshedpur plant shopfloor for women employees from April 1, 2019. A total of 52 female employees work at its Coke Plant and Electrical Repair Shopfloor in Shifts A and B between 6:00 am and 10:00 pm through the week.