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COVID-19 India News Woman

Modi lauds woman loco pilot of Oxygen Express

Modi said that all mothers and sisters would be proud to hear that one Oxygen Express was being run by an all-women crew….reports Asian Lite News

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday hailed woman loco pilot Sireesha Gajini of the South Western Railway (SWR) for also steering the Oxygen Express ferrying the life-saving gas from Jharkhand’s Jamshedpur to Bengaluru on May 21.

Interacting with Gajini, of Karnataka, in his monthly “Mann ki Baat” radio programme, Modi told her that all mothers and sisters would be proud to hear that one Oxygen Express was being run by an all-women crew.

“Every woman of the country will be proud of you. Not only they, every Indian will feel proud of you,” he told Gajini during his two minute chat with her.

“Sireesha ji, you are doing an outstanding job. Many women like you came forward during the coronavirus pandemic and gave the nation the strength to find against the disease. You are also a great example of naari shakti (woman power),” he added.

Gajini told Modi in English that she worked with great pleasure when she piloted the Oxygen Express.

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“I happily worked for this mission. For delivering the oxygen, everything is checked, including safety, formation, leakage,” she said.

Gajini, 33, and her co-pilots N.P. Aparna and Neelam Kumari, drove the train, carrying 120 tonnes of liquid medical oxygen in six cryogenic containers, at 100 kmph from Tamil Nadu’s Jolarpettai to Whitefield station in Bengaluru, covering 125 km in 90 minutes.

“The women pilot crew took over the train’s electric engine when their turn came at Jolarpettai and piloted it for 125 km to Bengaluru. They forayed into a domain, considered as a male reserve for long,” a railway official told IANS.

Thanking the Prime Minister for calling her, Gajini said the Railways has been always supportive.

Asked from where she got the inspiration to become a loco pilot in the railways, she said: “My parents are my inspiration. My father encouraged me and my two sisters to study well and supported us in our professional careers.”

An engineering graduate, Gajini joined the zonal railway as a local pilot in April 2013 after a year stint in a software firm here.

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COVID-19 India News

Over 7,115 MT of oxygen delivered by Railways

Oxygen Expresses have delivered more than 3,900 MT of LMO in the NCR region so far for further distribution…reports Asian Lite News

The Indian Railways on Thursday said that its Oxygen Expresses have delivered more than 7,115 MT of liquid medical oxygen (LMO) to several states.

Railway Ministry spokesperson D.J. Narain said: “Railways is continuing its journey of bringing relief by delivering LMO to various states across the country. So far, Indian Railways has delivered nearly 7,115 MT of LMO in more than 444 tankers to various states across the country.”

On Wednesday, the national transporter has delivered nearly 800 MT of LMO, he said, adding that 15 Oxygen Expresses have completed their journey so far and brought relief to various states.

Indian railway’s Oxygen Expresses(Twitter)

Narain said that 407 MT has been offloaded in Maharashtra, nearly 1,960 MT in UP, 361 MT in Madhya Pradesh, 1,135 MT in Haryana, 188 MT in Telangana, 72 MT in Rajasthan, 120 MT in Karnataka and more than 2,748 MT in Delhi.

He said that Tamil Nadu is set to receive its first Oxygen Express later on Thursday with 80 MT of LMO arriving from Durgapur.

Oxygen Expresses have delivered more than 3,900 MT of LMO in the NCR region so far for further distribution.

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