Woman engineer who struggled for job for 3 years steers PM on his Metro ride

One of the 21 women Metro train pilots among a fleet of 91 who will operate trains of Metro 2A and 7, 27-year-old Shete had also ferried then Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray during the inaugural ride of Phase I of the project last April. “I was very excited and happy that I got the opportunity to drive the train when the PM, the CM and the deputy CM travelled in the Metro. It was an honour,” Shete told The Indian Express.

“Today my mother, father and all other family members are proud of me… they are very happy,” she added.

Asked if she was nervous, Shete said, “I was thrilled and happy but not nervous. I was confident of my skills. I am a trained Metro pilot and had the support of all my colleagues and managers.”

Shete, who hails from Aurangabad (now Sambhaji Nagar), comes from a middle class family. She has done her diploma and bachelors in electrical engineering and undergone training to become a Metro train pilot in Hyderabad in 2020.

“I have undergone six months of training in Hyderabad, following which I came to Mumbai in 2020… I was then again trained to drive this train,” she said.

Shete said that after completing her engineering degree, she had to struggle for three years to get the job. “As a woman, getting this opportunity… from a group of 91 pilots, was a big thing and now, I feel the struggle and hard work has paid off.”

After virtually inaugurating and laying foundation stones for a slew of projects, the PM visited Gundavali Metro station in Andheri from where he dedicated Phase 2 of Metro 2A and 7.

Around 7 pm, Modi, along with Chief Minister Ekanath Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, travelled in Shete’s train to Mogara station and returned to Gundavali station – a distance of 2.4 km. During the ride, the PM interacted with students, unorganised sector workers, a few people and Metro staffers.