President of India Her Excellency Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil today presented two Meritorious Awards in Specialised Fields, instituted by the Standing Conference of Public Enterprises (SCOPE) to Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL). The awards were received by SAIL Chairman Mr. S.K. Roongta at a glittering function held at Vigyan Bhawan on the occasion of the first Public Sector Day instituted by the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE). The two awards are in recognition of SAIL’s far-reaching initiatives in the areas of Corporate Social Responsibility & Responsiveness (2008-09) and in Research & Development, Technology Development & Innovation (2007-08).
The SCOPE Meritorious Award for Corporate Social Responsibility & Responsiveness for the year 2008-09 has been conferred on SAIL for the fulfillment of stringent criteria on CSR policies, products & services, initiatives of the company to improve the quality of work life, environment, safety/security & well-being of the employees and other stakeholders. The efforts of SAIL in the fields of healthcare, education, literacy promotion, improving local infrastructure, rural/community development, economic empowerment of women, income generating programmes, child welfare, etc., have been recognised through this award.
SAIL’s outstanding contributions in Research & Development, Technology Development & Innovation have been recognised by the second award. The company’s R&D Centre for Iron & Steel (RDCIS) in Ranchi is India’s premier research organisation in the field of ferrous metallurgy. More than 250 research engineers at RDCIS undertake research projects right from raw materials to finished steel products at steel plants/ units of SAIL. RDCIS not only caters to SAIL’s captive needs, but has also been rendering technological services to various public and private sector organisations in India and abroad. Many government agencies are entering into technical collaborations for joint research work in the field of steelmaking and allied areas with RDCIS.
Present on the dais for the award presentation ceremony were Union Minister for Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises Mr. Vilasrao Deshmukh, BRPSE Chairman Dr. Nitish Sengupta, Union Minister of State for Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises Mr. Arun Yadav, DPE Secretary Mr. Bhaskar Chatterjee, SCOPE Chairman Mr. Arup Roy Chowdhury and DG, SCOPE Dr. U.D. Choubey.
