“It is a matter of pride for all of us that 74 out of 128 awardees, who have won the Vishwakarma Rashtriya Puraskar (VRP) are from Steel Authority of India Limited. It’s even more heartening to note that SAIL employees have bagged 4 out of 5 awards of Class A, which is the highest number of A Class awards won by any PSU in India”, stated SAIL Chairman Mr C.S. Verma at a felicitation ceremony for Vishwakarma Awardees organized at Scope Complex here today. Continuing with its glorious tradition of previous years, SAIL won 15 out of total 28 VRP awards for the performance year 2008, which were conferred by Union Minister of Labour and Employment, Shri Mallik Arjun Kharge at a glittering ceremony held at Vigyan Bhawan yesterday.
It’s worth a mention that the estimated annual savings resulting from implementation of works mentioned in the Award Winning Projects of SAIL are over Rs. 135 crores on a recurring basis. The 15 awards won by SAIL went to 74 employees from SAIL's four plants – Bhilai Steel Plant won seven Vishwakarma Rashtriya Puraskars involving 36 employees, Bokaro Steel Plant won six involving 29 employees, Durgapur Steel Plant won one involving 5 employees, and Salem Steel Plant won one involving four employees.
Instituted by the Government of India in 1965, the Vishwakarma Rashtriya Puraskar is a national award given every year by the Ministry of Labour in association with the Directorate General Factory Advice Service & Labour Institutes to workers of industrial undertakings in recognition of their outstanding suggestions leading to cost reduction, improvement in quality, productivity and working conditions such as safety, health and environment conservation in their organisations.
SAIL employees won the Vishwakarma Rashtriya Puraskars in three different categories – four Class ‘A’, three Class ‘B’ and eight Class ‘C’ award. The winners under these classes received cash prizes of Rs. 75,000, Rs. 50,000 and Rs. 25,000 respectively along with a certificate of merit.