Asia's 1st woman loco pilot Surekha Yadav retires after 36-yr service; 'trailblazing journey' ends
Mumbai (PTI): Surekha Yadav, Asia's first woman loco pilot who helmed several prestigious trains in the country during her career spanning over 36 years, retired on Tuesday, leaving behind a legacy of grit and inspiration.
The Central Railway hailed Yadav's contribution, saying the "trailblazing journey" of the "pioneer" will continue to inspire generations to come, while she said despite her work being challenging and full of responsibility, she enjoyed it thoroughly.
Yadav had joined the Indian Railways in 1989, breaking the barriers in the male-dominated railway sector. In 1990, she became an assistant driver, earning the distinction of being the continent's first woman train driver.
Besides Mumbai's suburban locals, she operated goods trains through India's steepest 'ghat' (mountain pass) sections, and also drove some of the country's most prestigious trains - from the Vande Bharat to the Rajdhani Express.
Born in a farming family in Satara district of Maharashtra on September 2, 1965, Yadav completed her diploma in electrical engineering before taking up her railway assignment.
She gradually rose through the ranks, operating her first goods train in 1996, and was promoted to motorwoman in 2000. In 2010, she qualified as a Ghat driver and later took command of long-distance mail and express trains across various routes.
In a major milestone, she drove the inaugural run of the Vande Bharat Express between Solapur and Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) on March 13, 2023.
Before retirement, she got an opportunity of piloting the prestigious Rajdhani Express on the Hazrat Nizamuddin-CSMT route between Igatpuri and CSMT as a final assignment a few days ago.
In a post on X, the Central Railway said, "Farewell to a Pioneer. Smt. Surekha Yadav, Asia's First Woman Train Driver, bids adieu today after 36 glorious years of service. Her trailblazing journey will continue to inspire generations of railway women and men alike."
Yadav completed all the formalities related to her retirement on the last day. As per the tradition, her colleagues gave her a grand farewell a few days back.
Interacting with reporters, Yadav said, "My journey started from farms and ended at platform number 18 of CSMT station."
She was referring to her last assignment as a loco pilot of Rajdhani Express.
She said her parents were farmers, but whatever she achieved today was due to the education they provided to her.
After her selection as an assistant loco pilot, the railway authorities had asked her if she would be able to do her job as no woman had done it prior to that, to which she replied in the affirmative, he said.
"If no one has done it before, it means someone will do it in future. It is not like if I had not come forward (to accept the job of assistant loco pilot), another girl would not take it up. But I was determined not to give it up if I got the chance," Yadav said.
She said her journey as assistant loco pilot was started from the Kalyan loco shed, during the era of DC (direct current) locomotives, which were later replaced by AC (alternate current) locomotives.
Yadav said that her work was challenging and full of responsibility.
There was neither a fixed timetable nor duty hours, but she enjoyed the job thoroughly, she said.
"Everyday, there used to be different locomotives, different destinations, colleagues and load. We had to be prepared for everything...I respected my job and I did it very well," she said.
According to her, the death of trespassers leaves an adverse impact on the loco pilots and hence people should avoid crossing the tracks.
On April 14, 2000, Yadav piloted the first ladies' special local to Dombivli from the CSMT.
"Mumbai's lifeline being piloted by a woman was a very big thing then," Yadav said.
She added that whatever she achieved is because of support from her colleagues, seniors and most importantly her family members, who always supported her despite there being no fixed duty hours and she had to stay away from home for days.
She said her official retirement function will be held on October 1 due to some technical problems.
"Even though today is my last working day ,official handing over of papers will be on Wednesday at CSMT," she informed.
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Single higher education regulator bill tabled in LS; Oppn flags ‘centralisation,' JPC likely
New Delhi: A bill to set up a 13-member body to regulate institutions of higher education was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan introduced the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, which seeks to establish an overarching higher education commission along with three councils for regulation, accreditation, and ensuring academic standards for universities and higher education institutions in India.
Meanwhile, the move drew strong opposition, with members warning that it could weaken institutional autonomy and result in excessive centralisation of higher education in India.
The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, earlier known as the Higher Education Council of India (HECI) Bill, has been introduced in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The proposed legislation seeks to merge three existing regulatory bodies, the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), into a single unified body called the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan.
At present, the UGC regulates non-technical higher education institutions, the AICTE oversees technical education, and the NCTE governs teacher education in India.
Under the proposed framework, the new commission will function through three separate councils responsible for regulation, accreditation, and the maintenance of academic standards across universities and higher education institutions in the country.
According to the Bill, the present challenges faced by higher educational institutions due to the multiplicity of regulators having non-harmonised regulatory approval protocols will be done away with.
The higher education commission, which will be headed by a chairperson appointed by the President of India, will cover all central universities and colleges under it, institutes of national importance functioning under the administrative purview of the Ministry of Education, including IITs, NITs, IISc, IISERs, IIMs, and IIITs.
At present, IITs and IIMs are not regulated by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Government to refer bill to JPC; Oppn slams it
The government has expressed its willingness to refer it to a joint committee after several members of the Lok Sabha expressed strong opposition to the Bill, stating that they were not given time to study its provisions.
Responding to the opposition, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the government intends to refer the Bill to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for detailed examination.
Congress Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari warned that the Bill could result in “excessive centralisation” of higher education. He argued that the proposed law violates the constitutional division of legislative powers between the Union and the states.
According to him, the Bill goes beyond setting academic standards and intrudes into areas such as administration, affiliation, and the establishment and closure of university campuses. These matters, he said, fall under Entry 25 of the Concurrent List and Entry 32 of the State List, which cover the incorporation and regulation of state universities.
Tewari further stated that the Bill suffers from “excessive delegation of legislative power” to the proposed commission. He pointed out that crucial aspects such as accreditation frameworks, degree-granting powers, penalties, institutional autonomy, and even the supersession of institutions are left to be decided through rules, regulations, and executive directions. He argued that this amounts to a violation of established constitutional principles governing delegated legislation.
Under the Bill, the regulatory council will have the power to impose heavy penalties on higher education institutions for violating provisions of the Act or related rules. Penalties range from ₹10 lakh to ₹75 lakh for repeated violations, while establishing an institution without approval from the commission or the state government could attract a fine of up to ₹2 crore.
Concerns were also raised by members from southern states over the Hindi nomenclature of the Bill. N.K. Premachandran, an MP from the Revolutionary Socialist Party representing Kollam in Kerala, said even the name of the Bill was difficult to pronounce.
He pointed out that under Article 348 of the Constitution, the text of any Bill introduced in Parliament must be in English unless Parliament decides otherwise.
DMK MP T.M. Selvaganapathy also criticised the government for naming laws and schemes only in Hindi. He said the Constitution clearly mandates that the nomenclature of a Bill should be in English so that citizens across the country can understand its intent.
Congress MP S. Jothimani from Tamil Nadu’s Karur constituency described the Bill as another attempt to impose Hindi and termed it “an attack on federalism.”
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