INTRODUCTION:

Women are considered as the internal part of society. In olden days certain jobs are carried out purely by men. The work which needs high physical input is executed by men such as fire fighters, military personnel etc. But today the scenario is entirely different, women also work as equal to men. They entered into various fields like men and they also give their best input also. Indian Railway is the one of the fastest growing sectors which gives equal opportunity to women employees same as to the men. Various departments in this sector have large number of women employees. Even in Chennai division big yards are also maintained by women employees.

Few years back only male employees are appointed as a station master and they are managed the entire station. women employees are also appointed as a station master and they also performing their jobs well. Even though in certain situations they can’t extend their boundaries in work like men. In open line different kinds of duty roasters are followed by various departments like traffic departments (Station masters, Loco pilots, Points women) Engineering department (Track women, Key women, Kalasy) Signal and telecommunications department (Technicians) includes large number of women employees. These departments are having 24 hours shift roasters. Sometimes this would be a great issue to the women employees as they have to concentrate on both family and profession.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE:

Aarti Singh Parihar (2018) recommended that the Indian Railways has to aims for inclusive development, then it is quite essential that females are included in all services and future planning related to it. Whether it is station development projects or new lines for high-speed trains, a female perspective will enrich the development socially and strategically. He also suggested that employing more female staff at different stations and in trains will give confidence to a lady travelling alone will feel safer with a lady ticket checker and a lady station master. It generates confidence among the female aspirants to see that ladies are working in the night shifts in Indian Railways.

Ranjith Kumar discussed in his paper titled “A Study on issues and challenges of Women Empowerment in Indian Railways” shared that in railway sector many jobs involve tough and arduous in nature for a woman to handle. He also revealed that the women employees in railway should be offered with customized working conditions that would cater to their unique job needs. The women should be empowered in national and international level. He also perceived that the government should implement programmes for the sake of empowerment of women

K. Jacintha Sathiyavathi and Dr. M. Muthupandi in their paper “A Study on Occupational Stress among the Female Employees of Southern Railway – with Special Reference to Madurai Division” stated that workplace stress will affect the performance of the employees. It also impacts the employees' mentalities, lead to non-appearance, expectation to leave, disappointment, low profitability and high work turnover. They also recommended that Legitimate systems should be created, thinking about working on adaptable hours, relational relationship and supervision and investment of the employees in the stress management might be useful to cope the stressors.

Yerra Priyaran (2021) suggests in her paper entitled “Occupational Stress Among Women Employees – A Study of South-Central Railway Employees Kazipet Junction” that occupational stress creates a lot of problems for women employees. The railway should keep the women employees aware about the latest development taking place in the economy. The organisation should remove the various obstacles faced by them. The organisation should provide proper feedback to the women employees and more emphasis should be given on team spirit.

PROBLEM STATEMENT:

The main aim of the study is to identify the problems that are faced by the women employees in railway sector. For open line women employees’ night shift is a major hectic problem. The failures have to be attended by them at any time. They have to reach the track through walk. They have to take care of themselves from hazardous creatures such as snakes, poisonous insects like and all. The other problem is obsolete trains, tracks and old equipment’s make railway job unsafe. Sometimes women employees belong to signal and telecommunications have to work on signal post and that height is also a threatened one.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:

· To Study about the hurdles faced by the women employees.

· To analyse the family support for maintaining their professional life.

· To identify that they have supportive environment in their work.

· To know about the safety, health and equipment facilities provided in their work place.

Research Design applied: Descriptive research method:

Data Collection: Questionnaire was used for primary data collection. The questionnaire includes demographic related data and other factors like Nature of shift, Peer technical assistance, Peer support and work life balance. Data collected by circulating the questionnaire through Google forms. Secondary data were collected from the journals, books, Internet, etc.

Sampling Technique used: Convenient Sampling

Statistical Tools applied: Two-way ANOVA, Regression Analysis.

Data Analysis and Interpretations:

a. Demographic profile of the respondents

Table.1 Demographic profile of respondents

Category	Number of respondents	Percentage of respondents
Age	<25 years	19%
	25-32 years	33%
	33-40 years	33%
	>40 years	15%
Experience	<5 years	29%
	5 to 10 years	26%
	10 to 20 years	17%
	20 years	28%
Qualification	HSC	48%
	Diploma	21%
	Degree	14%
	Post-graduation	17%
Designation	Managerial	39%
	Operative	47%
	Executive	14%

The above table describes the demographic profile of the respondents. 19% of the respondents are less than 25 years, 33% belongs to 25-32 age group, 33% of people belongs to 33-40 age group and remaining 15% belongs to above 40.

29% of women having less than 5-years work experience, 26% of persons having 5 to 10 years work experience, 17% women having 10 to 20 years work experience, 28% of women having more than 20 years work experience. This indicates that the women employees having all ranges of working experience from less than 5 years to more than 20 years.

48% of women possess HSC as their qualification, whereas 21% of women employees having diploma as their qualification, 14% possess degree, 17% possess postgraduation as their qualification. This shows more percentage of women are in HSC qualification.

39% of women belongs to managerial level designation, 47% of women belongs to Operative level designation and 14% belongs to Executive cadre.

HYPOTHESIS:

Ha₀: There is no significant relationship between Family support for maintaining Professional Life and Feel Difficulties faced while travelling to workplace.

Hb₀: There is no significant relationship between Work involves high physical input and Safety measures available in handling failures.

Hc₀: There is no significant relationship between Availability of Supportive environment and Availability of safety and modern equipment’s.

Regression Analysis for Family support for maintaining Professional Life and Difficulties faced while travelling to workplace

Regression Statistics
Multiple R	0.367369
R Square	0.13496
Adjusted R Square	-0.29756
Standard Error	8.344802
Observations	4

ANOVA

	df	SS	MS	F	Significance F
Regression	1	21.72857	21.72857	0.312032	0.632631
Residual	2	139.2714	69.63571	-	-
Total	3	161	-	-	-
Regression	1	21.72857	21.72857	0.312032	0.632631

INTERPRETATIONS:

In the above the p value for Family support for maintaining Professional Life and Difficulties faced while travelling to workplace is 0.14 and 0.63, where one value is less than0.05 and another one is 0.63. Hence, we accept Ha₀ as there is no significant relationship between Family support for maintaining Professional Life and Feel Difficulties faced while travelling to workplace.

FINDINGS:

· Women Employee Ratio is less than male employees.

· Certain Physical input jobs are not managed by women employees.

· There are no sanitation facilities for women employees in substations.

· For open Line staffs in night shifts they have to reach the track by walk, by this time it may leads to some security problems.

· Majority of respondents state that modern equipment’s will help them recover the failure easily

SUGGESTIONS:

§ For track women, light weight advanced tools should be provided.

§ Sanitation facilities can be improved for loco pilots

§ Work place safety should be enhanced.

§ Parallel walk way may be improved in track level.

§ Women safety can be ensured by enhancing safety in night shifts to them.

CONCLUSION:

Railway is one of the major important revenue sources for the government. Railway employees are considered as the biggest asset to the nation. By providing various facilities to the women employees the women empowerment can be enhanced. The empowerment of women has become one of the major concerns of 21^st century not only at national level but also the international level. Women should be given with equal opportunities, at the same time their safety should be ensured. It is a duty of the railway department to enhance the basic provisions to their staff especially women employees. The government of India provided various facilities to their employees even though in case of gender an additional preference should be given to women employees as our country always prioritize women as a primary source of power.

REFERENCES:

1. “Changing Tracks to Safety.” Aksharacentre.org, Akshara: Empowering Women and Girls, www.aksharacentre.org/event1/.

2. India, Railway Boards. “Citizen's Charter for Passenger Services.” Citizen's Charter for Passenger Services, Government of India, 23 Mar. 2018. www.indianrailways.gov.in/railwayboard/uploads/direct orate/Transformation_Cell/Circulars/Citizens charter for Passenger Services.pdf.

3. India, New Delhi. “Indian Railways: Lifeline of the Nation (A White Paper).” Indian Railways: Lifeline of the Nation (A White Paper), Government of India, Feb. 2015. www.indianrailways.gov.in/railwayboard/uploads/directorate/finance_budget/Budget_2015-16/White_Paper- _English.pdf.

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10. Women and Transport in Indian Cities. ITDP and Safetipin, 3gozaa3xxbpb499ejp30lxc8-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wpcontent/uploads/2018/01/181202_Women-andTransport-in-Indian-Cities.pdf.

Received on 25.07.2022 Modified on 22.10.2022

Res. J. Humanities and Social Sciences. 2023;14(1)7-10.

DOI: 10.52711/2321-5828.2023.00002