Prime Minister Theresa May was today given an insight into a recruitment revolution at JCB’s Indian plants by 10 pioneering female engineers at the heart of the transformation.
JCB began producing construction equipment for the Indian market nearly 40 years ago at a single factory in Delhi. Today the company has four other plants in Pune and Jaipur – with women playing an increasingly significant role in engineering and manufacturing roles.
Today, during the first leg of her tour of India, Mrs May met 10 of the ground-breaking female JCB India engineers who are driving the change in a male dominated industry.
JCB India Managing Director Vipin Sondhi said: “JCB was a pioneer in mechanising construction work in India nearly 40 years ago. Today we are pioneering the way in which we recruit, by challenging the perception that manufacturing is unsuitable for women. We actively encourage women to take up key manufacturing and engineering roles in our business.”
Priyanka Bansal, 27, Divya Patsariya, 29, and Kavita Verma, 25, all work at JCB’s Delhi plant, the biggest producer of backhoe loaders in the world. Ashwini Pingalkar, 32, Anjitha Nair, 33 and Snehal Kulkarni, 25, are employed in Pune, while Diksha Sharma, 24, Jyoti Sen, 23, Deepti Raghav, 24 and Renu Ataria all work in key manufacturing roles at JCB’s newest plant in Jaipur, where women make up 25% of the workforce. They all met the Prime Minister today.
Vipin Sondhi added: “The recruitment of these talented ladies into manufacturing and engineering roles is something we have been doing quietly for a number of years now. Some of our female engineers have been with us for over seven years and the recruitment of women into these roles is taking on a new impetus as we expand.
“They join us from university or college and undergo specialist in-house training. By giving these ladies manufacturing skills we have made a positive difference to their lives. They have become role models in their villages and hometowns, which in some cases are up to 1000kms away from where they now work and live.”