SAIL leads Vishwakarma Rashtriya Puraskar 2007 tally

Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) continues to uphold its leading position as a crucible of innovation. At a glittering function held at Vigyan Bhawan today, 14 of the total 28 Vishwakarma Rashtriya Puraskars presented by the Government of India for the perfomance year 2007 went to SAIL employees. Sixty-three of the total 121 Vishwakarma Rashtriya Puraskar awardees or 52% were SAIL employees. The awards were presented by Shri Mallikarjun Kharge, Union Minister for Labour & Employment.

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. The 14 innovative suggestions of the SAIL employees have helped the company achieve total annual savings of over Rs. 250 crore, of which around Rs. 130 crore would be recurring savings.

The 14 awards went to 63 employees from SAIL's four plants – Bokaro Steel Plant won five Vishwakarma Rashtriya Puraskars involving 19 employees, Bhilai Steel Plant won four involving 20 employees, Rourkela Steel Plant won three involving 19 employees, and Salem Steel Plant won two involving five employees. SAIL employees won the Vishwakarma Rashtriya Puraskars in three different categories – one Class ‘A’, five 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.

SAIL Chairman Mr. S.K. Roongta while felicitating the Vishwakarma awardees in the presence of other SAIL Directors at Ispat Bhavan here yesterday, appreciated their innovative spirit and urged them to continue their creative endeavours. The culture of innovation was spreading fast in SAIL, he noted.

SAIL workers, known for their dedication and commitment to organisational excellence, have helped the company and its plants/units to win various awards year after year. Of the total 52 winners of the prestigious Prime Minister's Shram Awards for the year 2007 announced recently, 21 are SAIL employees. SAIL Quality Circle teams also won the highest number of awards among Indian teams which participated in the international QC meet held in Bangladesh in October ’08. These included seven ‘Excellent’, seven ‘Extraordinary’ and one ‘Meritorious’ award.