Balancing for the best: Women in ONGC

A woman is the story of perseverance and quest. She is unstoppable. She is the symbol of aspiration,
courage, conviction and commitmentA woman is the full circle, within her is the power to create,
nurture and transform.

The Corporate Rejuvenation Campaign (CRC) at ONGC has attempted to implement multidisciplinary
team approach towards crucial oil and gas operations. This enabled to use the strength of each to
quench the weakness of others with an increasing diversity at workplace and carved out a reputation of
ONGC as one of the most women friendly organizations in India.

While the oil and gas workforce in India stands at 8% today, ONGC’s gender diversity has steadily risen
from 4% in 1990 to 7% in 2020. In the past 4 years, ONGC has 500+ women, playing different core
technical , support and managerial roles.

Women at ONGC have not only made major value additions to the rock gold business beneath the earth,
but also joined hands as an equal in making the first ONGC expedition to Mt. Everest successful.

Today, we seize the opportunity to showcase how women have contributed and are enablers of
equality at every sphere of activity in this great organisation

1. With their technical expertise, optimism and the ability to take calculated risks makes them an apt
blend for the team of exploration: geologist, geophysicists & geochemists.

2. As natural givers, they are strong believers in the ecosystem that thrives on symbiotic relationships. &
tailor-made for Nurturing sustainable development and choosing long term strategic planning over short
term gains for effective reservoir management.

3. Today, ONGC recruits women as drillers, because drillers exuberate expertise along with mental
tenacity. They stand fierce and fearless being involved in all facets of mud services, drilling &
cementing.

4. In a business where all efforts are in vain until the first drop of oil is produced, women are working in
all the stages of production. Her persuasive abilities, ability to be an empathetic listener and her
attention to detail make her an indispensible part of production teams. 9 out of 511 women recruited at
various positions in the past, are working on critical offshore platforms.

5. Like a mother, who inspires from the first steps of her children to their flight in the real world, women
in the industry have served to push oil from inside the earth to their final stages in processing. Women
with all their persistence and perseverance from chemistry, instrumentation, electrical and civil are
doing a meticulous job.

6. From researching their own identities to quality research, women in ONGC have been undertaking
research responsibilities in laboratories across the organization be it for EOR or renewable energy and
Biotechnology.
7. Renewable energy sources have brought around a renewed gust of empowering women. The
movement has gained considerable momentum owing to women being largest consumers. At ONGC
Energy Centre Trust, women employees have come up to create a formidable army of change makers.

8. Women seek to be relationship experts, believe in growing long term healthy relationships which are
purposeful, genuine and meaningful. Be it facilitating connections between people, resources and
relationships or be it the ability to track, evaluate and manage change, they do an impressive job all
along excelling in support services. It is indeed very befitting to focus on the various support services
women are involved viz Information and Communication, Material Management, Human Resources,
Finance , Material Management,& Security with their dedication and conviction.

9. ONGC women serving in HSE, Fire Safety, Medical and Legal need a special mention too.

Emulating the physical strength of women like Mary Kom, women have made a mark in the territorial
army of ONGC.

ONGC has the privilege of having a first woman Director Dr. Alka Mittal (Human Resources) , who with
her focus, vision, determination and meticulousness has single handedly contributed to the grooming of
11000 GTs besides higher accolades.

Despite the empowerment acquired by women, they often get pressurized on the ‘Only’s Syndrome’ .
The ‘only woman’ in the place of work is often coerced with litmus tests where in her success and failure
becomes a matter of a gender biased judgements. The satin of the society has accepted gender parity
as inkblots, some mistaking it for stains while we stand at the confluence of dyeing it with gender
equality. When women uplift themselves and are supported by other women and men, the entire
society benefits.

We dream of a world where women and men can realise their full potential and gender equality would
serve as a stepping stone to a better world.