NE NEWS SERVICE
CHENNAI, OCT 21
The Southern Railway has conducted the 66th Railway Week award distribution ceremony at ICF Dr. Ambedkar Arangam in Chennai on Thursday. Thiruvananthapuram Division has bagged 5 shields in various categories, a release said.
Railway Week is celebrated all over the Indian Railway network from 10th to 16th of April every year. The celebrations are held in commemoration of the first train run o¬n Indian soil o¬n 16th April, 1853 from Bori Bunder to Thane.
35 Efficiency Shields were awarded to Divisions or Workshops or Units for outstanding performance in different areas of railway working for the year 2020-21.34 Gazetted and 134 non-gazetted staff were honoured with General Manager’s (Individual) Awards. 9 groups consisting of 64 employees were given ‘Group Awards’.
Thiruvanathapuram Division bagged Four Efficiency Shields. They are Security, Signal and Telecommunication, Personnel and Electrical Energy conservation Shields. 2 Gazetted and 15 Non Gazetted Staff of the division received GM’s Individual Awards. K P Bimin (Athletics) and B Aneesh Babu(Aquatics) of the division were awarded for their outstanding performance in sports.
Southern Railway General Manager John Thomas distributed shields and awards in the presence of B.G Mallya, Additional General Manager, Southern Railway. Principal Heads of Departments, Divisional Railway Managers of all the Six Divisions, Dr. Bina John, President, Southern Railway Women’s Headquarters Organisation, Renuka G. Mallya, Vice President, SRWHQO, Representatives of the Labour Unions, Officers and Staffs of all 6 divisions participated in the function. Keeping in view the Covid Restrictions, the crowd was limited and the function was telecast live.
Aaivu, Chief Personnel Officer (Admin), Southern Railway welcomed the gathering.
Speaking at the function, John Thomas, General Manager, Southern Railway lauded the employees of Southern Railway for their commendable performance and dedication to duty during the times of crisis. He highlighted the key achievements of Southern Railway during 2020-21 and how the pandemic situation was utilized productively by the zone to complete major infrastructural and safety works.
General Manager’s Inter Divisional overall Efficiency Shield was bagged by Salem Division.Gautam Srinivas, Divisional Railway Manager received the shield from the General Manager. Tiruchchirappalli Division bagged the Runners-up Shield for Overall Efficiency and it was received by Manish Agarwal, Divisional Railway Manager, Tiruchchirappalli.
Among other performance efficiency shields, Chennai Division bagged Commercial Efficiency Shield and the newly introduced Integrity Shield for Vigilance. Salem Division bagged Engineering, Electrical, Mechanical, Accounts and Safety Shields. Madurai Division bagged Operating, Medical, Manpower Planning, Stores, Planning-Work Study Efficiency Shields and Inter-Divisional Rajbhasha Rolling Shield.
Among workshops, Golden Rock Workshop has won the Green Shield for adopting various energy efficient and eco-friendly practices while Signal & Telecom Workshop at Podanur won Personnel Efficiency Shield in workshops category.
An audio visual, ‘Southern Railway: Progress amid the Pandemic’, was played during the event showcasing the robust initiatives and concerted efforts of the zone in handling the COVID situation and lockdown.
The event concluded with the vote of thanks proposed by A. Narayanan, Chief Personnel Officer (IR), Southern Railway.