Woman loco pilot’s journey features in R-Day tableau

Rourkela: During the state-level Republic Day parade in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday, the tableau on the theme “Women in the transport sector” celebrated women breaking barriers in male dominated profession. Among the life stories featured was that of Munni Tigga (41) from Sundargarh district, who has been serving as a freight train loco pilot for the past 14 years.Munni born into a farmer family was academically bright and topped her batch in 2002 while studying at Kumjharia Girls’ High School. But financial constraints forced her to discontinue her education, as her father struggled to support a family of seven children. Munni has five more sisters and one brother.To support her family, Munni assisted her father in farming and later worked as a labourer in a private factory, about 12 km from her home. A turning point came in her life in 2004 when Munni visited her elder sister in Rourkela. Inspired by seeing her school friend pursue higher education, she enrolled in Plus II Science in a college at Rourkela.In 2006, she secured admission to the Government ITI College, Bargarh. Encouraged by fellow aspirants preparing for competitive examinations near her sister’s residence, she decided to attempt railway recruitment examinations. She was selected as an assistant loco pilot in Nov 2011. She was promoted to loco pilot in 2016. Currently, she operates goods trains on the Palasa–Khurda route. “My top priority is to educate my children. I want them to grow into independent individuals,” said Munni, who has two children.