The Business Bytes
TBB BUREAU
BHUBANESWAR, AUG 7, 2023
Jindal Steel & Power (JSP) on Monday observed the 93rd birth anniversary of its founder Om Prakash Jindal, popularly known as Bauji, at its Angul plant and surrounding geography conducting several participatory community friendly programmes.
Early in the morning, Angul Location Head and Executive Director In-Charge, Hridayeshwar Jha, and Executive Director, Damodar Mittal, led the day by paying floral tribute to the great son of the nation, OP Jindal. Other senior officials of the plant, employees with their family members, and hundreds of villagers from the vicinity participated in the program in large numbers, showing their utmost respect for the revered soul.
Addressing the gathering, Hridayeshwar Jha said, “Shri O.P Jindal is the name of a dynamic personality who dreamed of using Indian technologies to produce steel in our country. In a time when most steel companies relied on foreign technologies, he not only made significant efforts to adopt Swadeshi technology but also succeeded in doing so. We are fortunate to be associated with a group that has been pursuing the vision of ‘Make in India’ for a sustainable prosperous future for India.”
“On this auspicious day, I urge all the workforce of JSP to always think about the possibilities of Inclusive prosperity and never get discouraged, as we are working in a company whose founder always saw doors when others saw walls,” he added.
Damodar Mittal shared his experiences and memories of Bauji, highlighting how OP Jindal always considered every employee of the company and the community as part of one Big family. Bauji believed in simplicity, honesty, and hard work, as evidenced by many employees who had worked with him and continue to be associated with the company, achieving great success in their lives.
Yoga Guru Swami Satyabindu Saraswati, Dinesh Tripathi, Vikash Goel, SK Sharma, and many senior officials of JSP also paid their homage and shared inspiring life stories of Bauji.
Like every year, a blood donation camp was organised by JSP Foundation, the social arm of Jindal Steel & Power in collaboration with District Red Cross Blood Bank which was inaugurated by the Location Head Hridayeshwar Jha. Pursuing the vision that there should not be dearth of blood for human medical treatment, JSP Foundation could collect 145 units of blood in the camp. As a mark of respect to the Founder of OP Jindal Group, the employees of JSP and associated companies donated blood to save precious human lives in the Angul district.
On the occasion, the District Level OP Jindal Angul Cup Football Tournament-2023 was also inaugurated at PTC Football Ground, Angul. The inaugural ceremony was attended by Brijesh Kumar Rai, DIG (NCR)-cum Principal, Police Training College, Angul, Damodar Mittal, Akshay Kumar Sith, District Sports Officer and other distinguished guests. The tournament includes 11 teams from different districts of Odisha and one team from Jamshedpur, with the final match scheduled for the 18th of August.
Additionally, as a measure of social service, JSP Foundation provided dry rations to various Senior Citizen Homes in the district. Team HR & Admin also organized various free food distribution counters in the plant, serving around 20,000 free meals to the community.
The staff and students of OP Jindal School and DAV-Savitri Jindal School paid tributes to Bauji with a special hawan and prayers.
In the evening, a Bhajan Sandhya was organized in the township.
In the Bhubaneswar office, staff led by JSP President & Group Head (CSR) Prashant Hota paid floral tributes to the legendary visionary OP Jindal.
To commemorate the occasion, a chilled drinking water van by JSP Foundation with the approval of Bhubaneswar Municipal corporation was flagged off by Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation Mayor Sulochana Das in the presence of JSP President & Group Head (CSR) PK Hota, EVP (Corporate Affairs) BP Mishra and other officials from JSP and JSP Foundation. This is the fourth chilled drinking water van in Odisha by JSP Foundation. The 1500 litres-capacity water van will move mainly in construction areas and slum areas to provide safe and chilled drinking water to the needy and underprivileged.
OP Jindal’s significant contributions to the economic and social advancement of India have left an indelible mark. He received the prestigious “Lifetime Achievement Award” from the Bengal Chamber of Commerce & Industry in November 2004 for his remarkable contribution to the Indian Steel Industry. At the time of his passing, he was the Minister of Power in the Haryana Government after being elected to the Haryana Vidhan Sabha. He was also a member of the 11th Lok Sabha.
