OREANDA-NEWS. October 18, 2011. BHEL employees have once again bagged 8 Prime Minister’s Shram Awards (2008 to 2010) among a host of Public & Private Sector companies in the country.

The awards were presented by the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh, at a function held in New Delhi. Thirteen employees of BHEL, from its various units located across the country, shared 8 Shram awards including two Shram Bhushan, two Shram Vir and four Shram Shree awards for the years 2008-2010.

Instituted in 1985 by the Ministry of Labour, Government of India, the Shram Awards carry a cash prize and a Sanad. BHEL employees have regularly been winning these prestigious awards, since inception. Shram awards are given in recognition of distinguished performance, innovative abilities, outstanding contribution in the field of productivity and exhibition of exceptional courage and presence of mind.

Aimed at encouraging individuals to take up improvement projects for capability building and for continuous improvement in every sphere of activity, an Improvement Projects Rewards Scheme (IMPRESS) has been introduced company-wide. The scheme is e-network based and provides weightage for various aspects like relevance to the department, innovation/creativity, meeting targets, institutionalization, deployability and financial impact.

BHEL continually invests in education and training programmes for employees witha view to constantly upgrading their skills and knowledge. The company has several employee productivity enhancement initiatives in place, such as multi-skilling of employees, effective utilisation of critical machines through three-shift, 24-hour operations and redeployment of employees.