PM Modi all praise for women crew of Jolarpettai-Bengaluru Oxygen Express

Bengaluru: Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his weekly 'Mann ki Baat' programme on Sunday, interacted with loco pilot Sireesha Gajini who drove the 7th Oxygen Express from Jolarpettai in Tamil Nadu to Bengaluru. He described Sireesha as an embodiment of woman power.

PM said that mothers and sisters would be proud to hear that one oxygen express was piloted by all-women crew. "Every woman of the country will feel proud at that. Not just that, every Indian will feel proud," he observed.

"Sireesha ji, you are doing an outstanding job. Many women like you came forward during the coronavirus pandemic and gave the nation the strength to find against the disease. You are also a great example of naari shakti (woman power)," he added. Gajini told Modi in English that she worked with great pleasure when she piloted the Oxygen Express.

"I happily worked for this mission. For delivering the oxygen, everything is checked, including safety, formation, leakage," she said. Sireesha said the railways has been supportive in this endeavour and facilitated quick passage of the Oxygen Express through a 'Green corridor'.

Responding to the PM's compliments, she said that her parents were her inspiration. Her father encouraged all his children (three daughters) to study well and supported them in their professional ambitions, she stated.

An engineering graduate, Gajini joined the zonal railway as a local pilot in April 2013 after a year's stint in a software firm here. Apart from Sireesha, assistant loco pilots Aparna NP and Neelam Kumari were part of various Oxygen Express trains driven from Jolarpettai Junction to Bengaluru.

"They have readily taken up the responsibility when their turn came up for driving these trains. These women who have forayed into the what was till now considered a forte of men will emerge as shining examples of hope for numerous girls dreaming of a career in railways, in frontline role," the South Western Railway said in a statement.