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Power Minister Urges Women in Power Sector: Aim High for Engineering Leadership Roles

The group, comprising women from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Maldives, and various parts of India, engaged with Union Minister for Power and New & Renewable Energy R.K. Singh.

February 19, 2024. By Abha Rustagi

25 mid-career women professionals recently convened in New Delhi to share their experiences from the WePOWER SAR100 training program. This initiative, part of a series targeting 100 women professionals from the Southeast Asian region, aims to equip participants with global exposure to emerging technologies and best practices in the energy sector.

The group, comprising women from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Maldives, and various parts of India, engaged with Union Minister for Power and New & Renewable Energy R.K. Singh, highlighting the program's impact on their professional growth. Participants expressed gratitude for the exposure to cutting-edge technologies such as vertical solar panels and compressed-air energy storage, along with insights into global best practices.

Minister Singh, acknowledging the success of the program, emphasized the need for more women to pursue engineering careers, encouraging them to aim for top leadership positions within the sector. He emphasized meritocracy over gender, urging women to set ambitious career goals. “I tend to see the workplace not in gender terms, but in terms of ability; if you have ability, you will rise to the top. The course has given you exposure to what is happening in other countries. Now, you need to set your ambitions high. Your objective must be to become CMD or Director one day, that is the change that needs to come. It is happening, but you need to set your sights higher,” he said.

Secretary of the Ministry of Power, Pankaj Agarwal, stressed the importance of such training initiatives in fostering career growth. He expressed hope for the institutionalization of similar programs to benefit professionals across the power sector.

The training extended beyond classroom sessions, with participants visiting key power facilities such as the National Power Training Institute (NPTI) in Faridabad. Dr. Tripta Thakur, Director General of NPTI, hailed the participants as exemplars of women's empowerment, underscoring the transformative shift in gender dynamics within technical fields like the power sector.

WePOWER SAR100, led by the World Bank in collaboration with national counterparts from seven countries, including India, aims to create a gender-diverse pool of experts for developing and operating regional power systems. With a focus on renewable energy integration and addressing gender bias, the program anticipates significant contributions to the region's energy sector.

As the program nears its conclusion with an on-campus capstone event at the Asian Institute of Technology in March 2024, the impact of WePOWER SAR100 in reshaping gender norms and fostering women's participation in STEM education and the energy sector continues to resonate.

Tags:

Training & Education

Minister of Power and New and Renewable Energy

RK Singh

Women in Power Sector

Engineering Leadership Roles

WePOWER SAR100 training program