METALLURGICAL & MATERIAL HANDLING
Arroranjan Mohanty,
Manager — Industrial Relations (MMH SBG)
Arroranjan Mohanty has built a reputation of making things happen. Be it a small task or big plan, once he sets his mind to it, he sees it through and this trait is holding him in great stead at the Mansourha Massarah Gold Project (MMGP) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, safeguarding the health and safety of over 600 employees during these days of COVID-19.
“The topography of our project site is a challenging one and more so because we are so remotely located from both the main towns of Riyadh and Taif which has been a huge issue for us to obtain basic amenities like food, medicines, PPEs and other materials,” he shares grimly. But true to his wont, Arroranjan has put his mind to it and as a member of the COVID-19 task force, he has been busy playing a key role to speedily prepare fully furnished quarantine and isolation rooms. “Speed was the key and we acted fast re-organising the accommodation layout to deal with the pandemic,” he says with the confidence of a man with years of experience working on both Indian and overseas assignments.
Having joined L&T at the VAL Lanjigarh project in 2007, he then moved to the Bhusan Steel Limited project and thence to his current site. Arroranjan attributes his success to the encouragement and guidance of his colleagues like Project Director, Hare Ram, Construction Director, Praveen Hajare, Project Manager Pranav Kumar Vatsa, and Accounts Head, Madhan Kumar.
Hailing from Cuttack, Odisha, Arroranjan is married to Smita Mohanty, a homemaker, and is blessed with a son, Biswa Ranjan Mohanty. A movie buff, he likes to spend his spare time going on family vacations which seems like a distant dream in the current scenario. “Initially my family was worried when I was venturing out to go to work but I made them understand the precautions and steps we have adopted at the site so now they are supportive and happy,” he says adding with a characteristic grin that his most memorable moment has been the birth of his son on Viswakarmapuja, an auspicious day.
After being associated with L&T for more than 13 years, Arroranjan is passionate about his organization, “My company has stood with me through thick and thin and nothing has changed even now. I said it then and I will say it now, I am truly honoured to be an employee of L&T.”
S P Tamilarasu,
Assistant Manager — EHS (MMH SBG)
One of the main issues for the team at MMH SBG’s Khargone Thermal Power project is the remoteness of the site and the task for S P Tamilarasu and team was tougher during these days of COVID-19 working to keep their people safe. “Our site is at Selda, some 100 km from Indore. Due to inadequate accommodation facilities close by, the staff was accommodated at Sanawad some 45 Km from site,” he informs. “During the lockdown we had about 950 workmen stranded at our labour colony all of whom migrants from various states mostly Bihar, UP, Jharkhand, Orissa, partly from MP and the task to safeguard their mental health was a major challenge.” The rapid spread of the virus in Indore and media reports were stressing them, “so we had to handhold them and go out of our way to ensure uninterrupted electricity and water, resolve day-to-day administrative, safety, health and hygiene issues,” Tamilarasu highlights.
Apart from all the normal precautions, “We continually broad casted audio awareness messages of COVID 19 through mobile Bluetooth speakers at PEP talks before the lockdown and in the workmen habitat during the lockdown,” he shares. “To further improve their mental and physical health, we circulated Yoga e‑books through WhatsApp.” Such huge tasks are best managed successfully by teams and Tamilarasu is the first to acknowledge it. “I am proud to be a part of the COVID team of Khargone who have made everything possible through fantabulous networking and liaison skill with all support from our management and effective guidance from Mukesh Kumar and Sourav Das to combat, win and resume operations with a very good workforce strength.”
A 13-year-old veteran at L&T, Tamilarasu joined L&T in 2007 as a DET-Safety at the Sagardigi Thermal Power Plant Project. “After two months on deputation, I was posted to the Dhamra Port where I was for 7 years holding various positions before moving to the CHP-Lalitpur project from where after 3 years, I moved here to the 2x660MW India’s first ultra super critical thermal power plant.” He shares with a certain amount of pride, which he feels for the way L&T, as an organization, has handled the COVID-19 crisis. “My family and friends are full of appreciation about L&T’s effective participation to combat the virus and I am a proud L&T- ite!” His family is his wife, Dhanalakshmi T, a homemaker, whom he describes as the “lady of the house” and they are blessed with little Kuraarasi T D who is just 16 months old and the apple of his eye.
A lover of novels, Tamilarasu concludes philosophically, “We learn more in a crisis than in comfort!”
Rahul Mohan,
Assistant Manager — EHS (MMH SBG)
“We believe in teamwork rather than individual work to combat COVID-19,” states Rahul Mohan with conviction, “and our focus has been to take all the necessary precautions, strictly follow all the guidelines and support the site team to perform their activities without stopping the work for even a single day!” A challenging mandate indeed for the Mansourah Massarah Gold Project (MMGP) team that Rahul is a part of. “It is unique and challenging due to its topography being situated within the Central Arabian Gold Region in the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia and its stringent time frame,” and adds that MMGP will become the largest ever gold project.
“I joined the L&T family on 4th July 2016 as a PGET and my first assignment was the 1.5 T Zinc Lead Beneficiation Plant-Hindustan Zinc Limited, SK Mines in Rajasthan after which I had a stint at the 3 MPTA Hot Strip Mill at the Rourkela Steel Plant before landing at MMGP.” Rahul and team has had several challenges to ensure the 700 workmen at site are engaged, safe and mentally at peace to work like the remoteness of the site being hundreds of kms from the main cities of Riyadh and Taif, a huge 38 km perimeter that had to sealed and organizing for basic amenities like food, medicines, PPEs and other material.
“I took a lead role in organizing and conducting daily temperature screening of all personnel and since our goal was to carry out the job effectively without any interruption, I took a lead role to form a COVID-19 task force comprising personnel from IR, HSE, the Execution and Site Medical teams to spread awareness, share guidelines and to effectively monitor our workmen during working hours. As a responsible human being, I believe that educating and sharing knowledge can have a great impact in our fight against the virus and as the local language was a barrier to me I took the support of and help from our site Doctor and English-speaking personnel from the local community to conduct awareness sessions,” he shares.
Teamwork also helps to overcome hurdles, states Rahul and “even though I am a junior to many of my colleagues and seniors, they all believed in my ability and allowed me to take the lead to tackle this pandemic situation,” he says with a sense of triumph.
“My family is my father, mother and younger sister who are very happy, supportive and encouraging,” shares Rahul, who hails from Kerala’s Kannur district. He loves to read fiction novels, read and surf the internet and workout in the gym. “I was delighted on 21st January 2016 when I received my selection call from L&T and also on my first day at office,” and adds, “there is immense opportunity to showcase your talent and skill at L&T!”
Purushottam Sawant,
Assistant Manager — IR (MMH SBG)
“This is my seventh project with L&T at the JSW project site in Dolvi,” proudly declares Purushottam Sawant, Assistant Manager – Industrial Relations for MMH SBG. “Earlier, I worked as IR In-charge at JSW Bellary project site where I was handling 7000 workmen and before that I worked at 5 other projects in the Bengaluru region with an average capacity of 2500–3000 workmen.” With such rich experience in handling large workforces, Purushottam is in the right place at the Dolvi site managing 6,000 workmen accommodated at four different locations. With Maharashtra leading the tally of positive COVID cases, the site management was worried being in the hot zone and their endeavour, as Purushottam explains, was to, “keep the workmen inside the colonies without allowing them to go outside and meet others from the general public to reduce the chances of bringing the virus inside the camp.”
The other consideration was to ensure that all the essentials were made available for the workmen inside their camps so there was no need for them to venture outside. Apart from the normal precautionary measures, Purushottam and team arranged for grocery and vegetable shops and “money withdrawal and transfer facilities through the Aadhar Card and an ATM facility arranged by Indian Post Office and even banking facilities through Feeno Bank without any service charges inside the workmen habitat.”
Such a huge task could not have been achieved by one person and Purushottam readily acknowledges the support he has been receiving. “Our project accountant, Debasish Ghosh, who leads our administration, was always with us, guiding us and providing all the necessary support. Our Project Director, B P Singh regularly organised team meetings to motivate us as also our Time Office In charge, Senthil Kumar.”
The fruit of their labour was realized when site activities resumed on 27th April after the announcement of relaxations. “We are very happy that we successfully kept all our workmen at site safe for 36 days all of which was possible because we worked as a team and supported each other to perform better,” shares a happy Purushottam. “After all, it is the culture and the spirit of our organization and I feel proud to be a part of L&T for we all know how to face all kinds of challenges!”
Hailing from Karwar in Karnataka, his wife, Pooja, is a homemaker and they are blessed with two children, Prasanna and Swati. “They are proud that I am involved in such a great activity of saving lives in the present scenario,” he says with great warmth. He loves playing volleyball and reading books in his spare time.
R Ravikumar,
Assistant Manager — Industrial Relations (MMH SBG)
“The COVID-19 pandemic is something that is a totally different challenge, the like of which we have never faced before,” declares R Ravikumar, “and therefore we needed to fight back and survive!” Presently working as IR In charge at the Hamrapur Fabrication Yard for MMH SBG’s JSW-Dolvi project site, Ravikumar shares about the disruption to work due to COVID-19. “Our site was running full swing round the clock till 21st March 2020. Then, all of a sudden, the pandemic outbreak put a halt to our operations that has affected our project badly.”
Having earlier handled the welfare of 8500 workmen and 350 staff at JSW’s Bellary site as IR Executive for over 10 years, Ravikumar is on familiar ground to handle his present assignment. “Here I was taking care of administration activities at the Hamrapur fabrication yards 1 and 2, the workmen habitats holding a thousand people and staff welfare for staff mess, guest house and family quarters. Presently our staff strength has dropped to 300,” he points out.
It was important for Ravikumar and his team to inform the workmen and make them understand that it was safer for them to remain in the shelter of the site camps and not venture outside. “It was also important to encourage them not to panic so we educated them to keep social distance. Keeping them inside our camps was a very difficult task,” he remarks. “The local authorities frequently inspected our workmen colonies and talked to them whether they were safe and getting all the essential commodities and were satisfied with what they saw and heard. From our side, we ensured that no workmen should face any difficulties and complain.” Apart from all the normal precautionary measures and arrangements, the team arranged for recreational activities too for the workmen to keep themselves engaged and free from worry.
“We were excellently supported and motivated by our Project Accountant, Debasish Ghosh, Site In charge, Sanjoy Gorai and other senior staff members and most of all by our Project Director, B P Singh,” shares Ravikumar adding, “it was only thanks to his leadership that we were able to overcome the difficulties and emerge successful.”
Ravikumar hails from Vellore in Tamil Nadu. His wife is R Sasikala, a homemaker, and they are blessed with two children, son, R Karthik and daughter, R Swetha. “I’m internet savvy and like listening to songs,” he shares about his hobbies.
“Quite simply, L&T is the best corporate in India with the way the organization has taken care of its staff and workmen both in India and abroad during this challenging time,” he signs off with pride.
Chandan Kumar Sah,
Executive — Accounts (MMH SBG)
On 21st June 2020, Chandan Kumar Sah will complete 10 years at L&T! “L&T is not just a brand; it is a feeling!” he declares proudly. “For trainees like us, who have seen L&T at close quarters and know about its dignity, we are extremely proud to be a part of L&T and doing our duty. It was another proud moment for all of us when recently, L&T was recognized as the ‘Company of the Year-2020’ by Business Standard. Talking about one aspect, we are always given chances to learn and develop ourselves every moment, across all project sites. L&T takes responsibility of all its employees and workmen in all situations, whatever it may be,” he says with total conviction.
Chandan joined L&T as a GCT at the Utkal Alumina greenfield project at Doraguda, TIkiri, Rayagada, Odisha where he learnt the ropes. “We were very successful for we received the closing certificate, realized all the final bills and got back our retention amount,” he shares triumphantly. His next project was BALCO at Korba, followed by TATA Steel, Kalinganagar, then Vizag steel plant before returning to the Utkal Alumina Expansion project at Doraguda, TIkiri, Rayagada, Odisha, his present assignment, where his career began.
“Here, we were fighting an unknown, unseen enemy, with no definite cure in sight with lots of misinformation spreading among the workmen, which had to be corrected in all possible ways and we did that,” he says forcefully. “Even before the lockdown, we took various measurable steps to safeguard the health and hygiene of our workforce & workplace.” Chandan and his team were focused to follow all the guidelines. “As this type of pandemic was new to us, we took extra care to keep our people safe. Our theme that we kept sharing with our people was “Apna suraksha apne haath!”
“Every task was initiated under the leadership of my Boss, Satish Patnaik,” shares Chandan, clearly enjoying the leadership, “who was always available for us and along with our Project Manager, Prasanta Tikadar, they motivated and guided us. Several of our other colleagues also joined us and took many actions in our fight against this pandemic.”
Still single, Chandan’s native place is the Madhubani district of Bihar. “Though my parents have settled at Rourkela, Odisha for the past four decades,” he shares. “I like to play chess with my colleagues, listening to different categorized songs based on my mood, reading books / novels, walking with friends and hearing the news regularly,” he smiles.
Gedela Tulaseedas,
Senior Engineer – Mechanical (MMH SBG)
Gedela Tulaseedas is working at the state-of-the-art Hot Strip Mill at the Rourkela Steel Plant since November 2017 as Site Execution Engineer, a project that was in the news just prior to the lockdown as it was commissioned on 31st January 2020. Having rolled out the first hot strips, the project team was speeding towards contractual completion by April 2020 when COVID-19 broke out and brought operations to a halt. “During the lockdown, our focus was on two main objectives,” he shares, “to look after the health and safety of our 1,200-strong work force and retain the existing workmen so we could be ready for a quick resumption of operations when the opportunity came.”
Having joined L&T in 2011 as a DET, his first assignment was the Sinter Plant #3 at Bhilai Steel Plant, then Blast Furnace #8 again at Bhilai Steel Plant and thereafter at the New Fabrication Yard at Kansbahal before moving to the HSM project.
As soon as the lockdown began, Tulaseedas and team got busy putting in place all the necessary precautionary measures to safeguard the health and safety of all. “We took self-declaration forms from all the workmen post the lockdown before restarting work and re-screened all to be doubly safe.” All the other precautions like practicing social distancing, sharing motivational and pep talks, creating awareness and providing facilities like contact less hand wash system, temperature monitoring, maintaining good housekeeping, constant sanitization, and fumigation of all premises and awareness communication was followed. “We received very good support from our seniors in terms of confidence boosting, knowledge sharing and sound suggestions that went a long way to help us in this fight,” shares this Corona Warrior.
Tulaseedas has several wonderful moments that he recalls with relish. “The first was in June 2008 when I got the first rank in my SSC exams and a leading rank in my Diploma entrance exam too. Then, June 2011, when I received my offer letter from L&T and finally, February 2020 when I visited Varanasi temple along with my family which was a big dream for them,” he shares with satisfaction. “Yes, they are worried and keep phoning me to be safe, but they are also happy that I am leading my life safely in this pandemic situation.”
Still a bachelor, Tulaseedas has several hobbies to keep him busy during his free time. “I love playing games, watching movies and sleeping,” he says with a laugh.
About L&T, he shares, “I am very happy to say that our organization is very supportive in every step including strong financial support in this pandemic situation and for an employee’s development by conducting the necessary training programmes and providing digital platforms.”
Khirod Kumar Sahukar,
Executive Accounts (MMH SBG)
Hardworking and diligent, Khirod Kumar Sahukar has steadily grown up the ladder. Having joined L&T at the RSP-Sinter plant project, Rourkela, Odisha as a Cashier in 2010, he moved on to the Alumina Smelter project as Accountant followed by a stint at the Hot Strip Mill Project, RSP-Rourkela. Today, he is the Accounts and Admin In-charge of the MCL-Bhubaneswari Project, a role he has played adeptly enough to be recognized as a Corona Warrior. “Our biggest challenge with the spread of the virus and the announcement of the lockdown was to provide essentials and necessary groceries to the workmen at our camps which in itself was a difficult task,” he says.
As at most other sites, their next challenge was to ensure that all workmen took all the precautionary measures. “It was something they are not used to and hence it took a lot of effort to make them understand their importance. It was only with continuous follow up that we succeeded to make them adopt this new way of life,” he shares with a huge sense of relief. Elaborating on their other steps, he shares “We conducted meetings, awareness programmes, ensured contactless temperature checks, and maintained high levels of sanitation and fumigation at the premises. So far, we have succeeded,” he smiles with a gesture of crossed fingers. “My seniors have supported me in this fight, guiding me on how to tactfully approach the local administrations that gave me a lot of confidence,” he says acknowledging the mentoring role of his seniors.
Hailing from Muniguda in Odisha, Khirod’s life partner is Anuja Choudhury, a homemaker. They are blessed with a daughter Subhashree Sahukar. Citing his most memorable moments as his wedding day and the day he held his daughter for the first time, Khirod understandably is a family man. “My family was initially apprehensive about my work, but now they understand my responsibility towards this noble cause and support me fully,” he says with a big smile. Khirod loves travelling to new places, reading books, and watching comedy shows in his free time.
“When I see the gratitude in the eyes of our workmen that they are in a safe and secure environment provided by L&T, my heart swells with pride. After all, I played a small role to support our site management wholeheartedly,” he says with the confidence of a man on top of things.
Pradeep Kumar Swain,
Executive — Industrial Relations (MMH SBG)
The challenge for the team at the MCL – Bhubaneswari project was unique. Situated at the open cast coal mine and with coal loading identified as an essential service, Pradeep Kumar Swain and his team had to contend with a lot of truck traffic. “It was a huge task for us to keep our workmen away from the truckers and take all necessary precautionary measures to reduce the danger of Corona infections,” he shares defining his challenge. His next focus was the contract workmen who are solely dependent on the company for their livelihood but then Pradeep was well equipped in that sphere having earlier handled 3,500 workmen at KPO (SMS Site) and an even bigger workforce of 23,500 at the BSL- Angul site. “We have managed the situation very well,” he smiles as they were able to restart operations post the lockdown.
“Things were not easy,” he admits seriously, “with our site spread across 3 Kms but, as a team, we struck to our task and our efforts bore fruit for we resumed operations with zero COVID cases,” he says with a sense of achievement of having faced and overcome some stiff odds.
Apart from all the preventive measures, which included regular sanitisation and fumigation of the premises, Pradeep and team boosted the morale of the workmen by providing them all essentials and even financial help. “Keeping the workmen idle was not a great idea so we made available facilities for them to play cricket and badminton at the camp. Most of them play very well,” he adds with a laugh.
Hailing from Pattamundai, Odisha Pradeep is married to Puspa Swain, a homemaker, who has been a source of great support for him as he has mitigated the risks at site. They are blessed with a son, Ayushman Swain, whose birth was the most memorable moment in his life. Pradeep enjoys listening to music in his free time.
“My biggest morale booster is my Project Manager C.N. Padhi, who has an uncanny way of lifting my spirits by trusting me 100 percent,” his expression shows the trust he enjoys. “What also keeps me going is the strong ethics of L&T that has backed the workmen and staff by not only armouring them against the dreaded disease but also paying them even during the lockdown,” he says with pride.
Yajjala Prasanna Kumar,
Accounts Supervisor (MMH SBG)
The outbreak of COVID-19 has created several issues for Prasanna Kumar and his team at MMH SBG’s Ash Handling Package and Coal Handling Package of 2X660 MW at NTPC Tanda Thermal Power Plant project site in the district of Ambedkarnagar in Uttar Pradesh. “Due to their typical mindset, the 800-odd workmen at our site were initially reluctant to follow the guidelines prescribed by WHO and take the necessary precautionary measures to stay safe.” As soon as the lockdown was announced, almost 90% of our workmen left the labour camp to try and return to their native places and soon the site started to receive several calls from administrative officers and police stations informing them that many of these workmen who had run away from the site had been quarantined by their respective Governments.
At site, Prasanna and team are doing everything in their capacity to keep the workmen who remained safe and sound with regular health check-ups, sanitization, maintaining social distancing and enforcing strict restrictions on the engagement of new workmen. Prasanna flags off another issue that has cropped up for the team. “The customer is now suggesting that a new workman has to go through 21 days of quarantine before he can be engaged at site.” Prasanna shakes his head and laments, “This is creating a sense of fear among the workmen and many of them are now reluctant to re-join the site.”
Though faced with several challenges, the team is standing together in their fight. Prasanna is extremely grateful for the support he and other Corona Warriors at site have received from the site management during these troubled times. “All possible support has been extended by the Project Head and other team members to immediately implement the various initiatives,” he says. “In one case, immediate emergency funds were allocated to arrange for daily visits of the Doctor, purchase grocery items and arrange for an ambulance to meet any emergency.” There are joint visits with seniors to labour camps and staff camps to check on their condition and assure them that the company is taking care of all their requirements. “We have created WhatsApp groups by adding all the available workmen to enable them to lodge their concerns, if any, for us to take action,” informs Prasanna.
His better half is Yajjala Vanisri, whom he describes as “a science graduate and a proud housewife” and they are blessed with a son, Uday Kumar Varma, whose birth is one of the most memorable moments in Prasanna’s life. The other, he says, is joining L&T. “My hobbies are reading stories, listening to music, playing games and spending time with my family and friends.”
