Vishwakarma Rashtriya Puraskar & National Safety Awards presented for Performance Year 2009

Union Labour and Employment Minister Mallikarjun Kharge presented  the Vishwakarma Rashtriya Puraskar and National Safety awards for the performance year 2009 at a function  in New Delhi.  For the performance year 2009, the total number of National Safety Awards were 123 (72 winners and 51 runners-up).

Vishwakarma Rashtriya Puraskar

Vishwakarma Rashtriya Puraskar (VRP) is awarded in recognition of outstanding suggestions given by a worker or group of workers and implemented by the management during the previous calendar year  (Performance year) that result in improvement in quality, productivity and working conditions such as safety, health and environmental conservations in the industrial undertakings where Suggestion Schemes are in operations.

The financial savings, due to adopted and implemented suggestions of the winning applications of the VRP in 2009 was 1082.85 crores recurring and 94.83 crores non-recurring in Indian currency and 21.73 crores recurring & 29.59 crores nonrecurring in Foreign Exchange.

VRP is awarded in the form of cash prize and a certificate of merit in three classes- Class A – 5 winners win Rs. 75000 each, Class B – Eight winners win Rs. 50000 each and Class C – 15 winners win Rs. 25000.

For 2009 performance, 28 puraskars Vishwakarma Rashtriya Puraskar were shared by 117 winners.

National Safety Awards

The National Safety Awards is given in recognition of outstanding safety performance of industrial establishments, construction sites, ports and installations under AERB to stimulate and maintain the interests of both the management and the workers in accident prevention programmes.

For the performance year 2009, the total number of National Safety Awards were 123 (72 winners and 51 runners-up).
NSA are given under twelve schemes, out of which ten are meant for Factories/Construction sites/Installations under AERB and two are for Ports.  Under each award, a Shield and a Certificate of Merit is given to each of the Award Winners and Runners-up.  The establishments are classified in different schemes on the basis of working of highest man-hours. 

The criteria for presentation of these awards is: Lowest average frequency rate over a period of three consecutive years ending in the Performance year as compared to the National Average for that group of industries; Accident Free year based on man-hours worked during the contest year.

How the awardees are selected

The Vishwakarma Rashtriya Puraskar  (VRP), previously known as Shram Veer National Awards as well as the National Safety Awards (NSA) was instituted by the  Union Ministry of Labour and Employment in 1965.  The Awards Schemes are operated by the Technical Wing of the Ministry, namely, the Directorate General Factory Advice Service and Labour Institutes (DGFASLI), Mumbai.

The applications for Viswakarma Rashtriya Puraskar (VRP) & National Safety Awards (NSA) from eligible applicants are invited every year.   For VRP, the management is required to send the application on behalf of the workers and for NSA the management directly applies for awards under each scheme. The applications received for VRP as well as NSA are then adjudged by a Tripartite Awards Committee constituted by the Ministry of Labour and Employment, comprising of representatives from Employers’ organizations, Employees’ Organisations and Central/State Governments. 

Besides the Tripartite representation, experts in the Committee from renowned institutions, Universities and Industries in the field of Safety, Health, Environment, Productivity and Quality also judge the applications.