KARACHI: The K-Electric (KE) has introduced the ‘Roshni Baji’ program in February 2021 through which 40 women have been on-boarded and trained as safety ambassadors.
The sole power supplier of the city, K-Electric, launched various initiatives to boost gender diversity and inclusion in Pakistan’s power sector to achieve one of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.
According to a press statement issued on Sunday, the K-Electric through its ‘Roshni Baji’ program forty women have been on-boarded and trained as safety ambassadors.
These women will engage with over 100,000 households in their own communities to raise awareness about general safety, electrical safety, rain safety, power theft hazards and energy conservation, the statement said.
The K-Electric spokesman said they will also eventually be trained as certified electricians, creating a new talent pool for the industry at large. The spokesman said aimed at challenging traditionally masculine roles in the power sector, as well as other jobs, the company hired its first five women grid operating officers (GOOs) to tackle gender stereotypes in the transmission business.
Prior to that, it had inducted two women at executive-level posts and introduced women meter-readers back in 2019, organized the First Women’s Football League in 2018, and sponsored the Girls Boxing Championship’ for female boxers from Lyari.
The K-Electric acknowledged that Pakistan’s power and energy sector remains one of the least genders diverse sectors in which women face structural and cultural challenges in professional growth and success.
It also underscored, citing the country’s 151st ranking on the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Gender Gap Index 2020, that women faced challenges in health, education and financial inclusion.
The power supplier said it was employing more women in technical roles, focusing on a gender-balanced workplace, and increasing representation, part of which included “enabling women to move into senior management positions, as well as taking on roles traditionally considered to be a man’s job”.
The efforts and initiatives undertaken by the K-Electric, the statement noted, “resonates with the ‘Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world International Women’s Day (IWD)’ agenda for 2021”.
The statement comes ahead of the International Women’s Day 2021 — March 8 — wherein the power giant aims to “recognize and celebrate the contribution and accomplishments of today’s growing female workforce and the key role that women play in our lives”.
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