Meet Manju Devi, first woman porter of North-West Railways
Manju Devi
Devi admits that the start was tough but with the help of other porters and words of encouragement from her family, she managed to pave her way through
In a profession that is considered strictly male-dominated, Rajasthan's Manju Devi stands tall as North-West Railways first woman porter. Manju took to the profession almost a decade back when her husband died.
Manju decided to take charge of her family and look after her three kids. She managed to get her deceased husband Mahadev's porter license no.15 and took to the demanding task of hauling luggage of passengers at the Jaipur Railway Station.
Devi admits that the start was tough but with the help of other porters and words of encouragement from her family, she managed to pave her way through all adversities.
"I weighed 30 kgs and the passengers' luggage was also 30 kgs but it was nowhere to the burden of feeding three children," she recalls.
Clad in a red kurta and a white salwar, Manju Devi sets out every day to work in multiple shifts, to make ends meet for her family.
She has been felicitated by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, besides other 112 exceptional Indian women including former beauty queens Aishwarya Rai and Nicole Faria, mountaineer Bachendri Pal and Anshu Jamsenpa, missile woman Tessy Thomas, and private detective Rajani Pandit.
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(With inputs from PTI)