BUILDING AND FACTORIES IC
Munduri Veerabhadra Rao,
Manager – Industrial Relations, B&F IC
“It is during these contretemps that we must all learn to maintain utmost composure and bring about amendments in our lifestyle for our own good. However, the lockdown has indeed left us fraught with challenges,” is how Munduri Rao (MVR, for short) describes the present strife that humanity is enduring. Soon the secret of his refined language is solved. “Writing is an innate talent of mine that I wish I had explored more as a young man. I do not have much time to follow it, but I make the best out of it whenever I can.”
MVR’s journey with L&T has been punctuated by several project milestones starting with the Rayalaseema Thermal Power plant followed by Sanghi Spinning Mill, HITEC City, Lonavala-Khandala Bypass, Satara-Kolhapur Road, Oberoi Springs, Oberoi Commercial Building, New American Consulate Compound, Wankhede Stadium, Salalah Airport, WIPRO SEZ, Statue of Unity and currently the Hyderabad Airport project.
The 2,400+ workforce at the HIAL site posed huge problems for MVR and team to maintain social distancing. “In addition, groceries were provided, payments disbursed at fixed regular intervals, recreational facilities created, water and electricity supply effectively controlled,” he shares. “The physical, psychological and emotional safety of the community has been my priority even as the apocalyptic spread of COVID-19 has disrupted life and businesses alike in India and elsewhere.” MVR paid daily visits to the workmen’s camp to ensure that all safety measures were followed. “I resolved issues with root level inspections and personally spoke to most of the workmen to make their stay as comfortable and implemented the comprehensible and recommended changes at the earliest,” elaborating on his role as a Corona Warrior.
MVR has been well supported by the site senior management in this endeavour. “We have frequent and in-depth discussions about workmen and employee welfare with our Commercial Head, C. Vasudev, Deputy Project Director, P. V. Kurup, and Project Director, Ch. Anil Kumar.”
Hailing from Kesanakurru in Andhra Pradesh, MVR’s better half is Lakshmi Vijaya whom he describes as “the perfect companion and a wonderful mother to our children while taking up all the responsibilities of running a household.” They are blessed with two children – a daughter, Lavanya Ratna Sirisha and son, Satya Sairaj. Hobbies we already know, and his two most cherished moments are when he received a job offer from L&T and when he entered fatherhood.
Summing up, he says, “It is a fact that we give back a lot of things to our community in strategic ways meant to optimize their impact. All the values that I have to offer are being recognized by L&T and I am grateful for that!”
Sanjay Pandurang Aher,
Construction Manager – Civil (B&F IC)
Of the dozen years Sanjay Aher has spent at L&T, a majority of them have been at airport projects: 8 years at his first project which was the iconic Mumbai International Airport and after 3 years at the DAICEC project in Mumbai, he has returned to an airport project at the Bangalore International Airport (Terminal -2) project site where he has been for a year. Though an unassuming young man, Sanjay is certainly the go-to man for the 3050-odd workmen at site in any crisis and the outbreak of COVID-19 has been a huge crisis not only for his project but for the whole world as well.
“My first task was to create awareness amongst the workmen about the virus and the precautionary measures that had to be taken for them to remain safe,” he says, describing his role as a Corona Warrior, passionately focusing his efforts to ensure that all the workmen were free from infections. “We have been following the advice of WHO and the guidance issued by the national and local health authorities by watching news/social media.”
Sanjay and his team members have been providing COVID-19 awareness training on health and hygiene, putting up awareness posters, conducting thermal temperature checks of the workmen and staff. “I have also made the workmen understand that it is not right to forward unverified information on COVID or be victims of hearsay. It’s important they are not swayed by false reports or fake news,” he adds earnestly. “They now check with us if they need any clarifications.”
Sanjay is all praise for his seniors for their 24×7 support and guidance during the crisis. “Together as a team, we have taken ownership of the situation and are working tirelessly,” he states. “Our purpose is to beat this invisible enemy and continue to build landmark projects that will keep L&T’s flag flying high.”
Hailing from Kopargaon, Shirdi, Maharashtra, Sanjay’s better half is Yogita Sanjay Aher and they are blessed with a son, Tanmay and a daughter, Pranjal. He is very appreciative of the “tremendous cooperation, support and motivation that I receive from my family.” Espousing a keen interest in fitness, yoga and books, Sanjay alternates his free time for these hobbies.
Sharing his memorable moment as joining L&T, Sanjay says “I see myself working in L&T for years to come because this is ‘the best’ place to work,” he concludes with the zeal of a happy employee.
Sudhakar Prabhu,
Manager – Industrial Relations, B&F IC
One of Sudhakar Prabhu’s pastimes is to play the piano on Sundays! With the outbreak of COVID-19, he has been forced to play a completely new tune to ensure the health and safety of the 2,100 workmen and staff at B&F’s Chennai International Airport project. “As an admin department, we required a readily available team to manage the site during this time of crisis,” he explains. “We are thankful for successfully retaining 50% of my excellent and high-spirited team members to fight the COVID crisis at site. It was initially a challenge to pacify and convince the workmen not to venture out of their labour camps unless it was absolutely unavoidable and thus far, we have managed the situation well,” he smiles.
Sudhakar started his journey with L&T as a Graduate Commercial Trainee in 2004 at the WIPRO Chennai project. “It was only a short stint of about 5 months before I was posted at the DDA (Delhi Development Authority) site in August 2004. Again, a short tenure, after which I moved to DMRC for about 2 years.” Thereafter, there were assignments at JIPMER, Puducherry, Employee State Insurance Corporation, Coimbatore and a 4-year stint at the Kannur International Airport site before moving to his present posting.
Sudhakar and team have taken care of all the necessities at site. One challenge for them has been “to identify and treat workers with fever and isolate them in quarantine wards as a precautionary measure,” he mentions. “We have also availed off free rations for our workmen from the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies through the Labour Department.” Since it is uncomfortable for them to remain constantly cooped up in their quarters, the team has built shamianas in the common areas of the workmen’s camp for their comfort to wander outside their rooms during the hot summer days. “I am extremely thankful to our Project Head, Anup Chulliyil, Project Accountant, G. Senthil Kumar and the entire senior staff members for visiting the site and the Labour Camps every day during the lockdown period as per the roster scheduled by the Corona Response Team,” he shares.
Sudhakar is a Chennaite. “I’m blessed to have a supportive wife, Angeline Sarah, a homemaker, and two daughters, Magdalene Sneha and Evangeline Jessica. With their love, care and sacrifice nothing is impossible for me!” he says matter-of-factly. “I have a lot of moments that I cherish,” he laughs, “the cricket I played during my school days, my appointment at L&T, my marriage, the smiles of my daughters, and of course, our annual family vacation.”
“Truly by the Grace of God, we had Zero positive cases and on 05.05.2020 we received permission from the District Collector to resume construction activity at site,” he signs off triumphantly.
Sashi Bhaskar Kondu,
Assistant Manager, Industrial Relations (B&F IC)
Being an entirely new virus, COVID-19 has caught human beings napping with a vaccine still in the process of being developed. When the pandemic broke out in India, several project sites across L&T Construction started planning and acting quickly to take remedial measures. One of the sites that was quicker off the blocks, than most was the IIT project site at Hyderabad, shares Assistant Manager, Industrial Relations, Sashi Bhaskar Kondu. “Within 24 hours of the announcement of the lockdown we had procured and distributed all the PPEs for our 1,631 workmen,” he says with a snap of his fingers. “Thereafter, we started on the more tedious process of making them understand the importance of social distancing and strictly following all the mandated precautionary measures.”
Handling such a big workforce was challenging for the project team but Sashi acknowledges the role defined by the site leadership in their fight. “Whatever was the challenge, our Project Director, HSP Shukla and Project Accountant, N Krishna Kumar stood with us like strong pillars guiding and working tirelessly with us as a team.”
Sashi’s association with L&T began with the Vizag Steel Plant project followed by a host of others – NTPC Simhadri at Vizag- AP, VISA Power, DB Power at Raigarh-CG, GMR Power at Raipur- CG, APTIDCO-Jaggayyapeta-AP “and this is my seventh project,” he states proudly. “We are an agile team and one of our unique initiatives was to organise shamianas or Indian marquees to ensure that the workmen were sheltered from the blazing sun and follow social distancing too. This initiative was well appreciated by the Government officials who inspected our camp and has been since followed by other projects as well,” his sense of achievement evident.
Hailing from Nandyal in the Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh, Sashi is blessed with a very supportive wife, Vinitha Durga, a teacher at the Pioneers International School and they are blessed with two children – Charan Sai and Deekshitha. Citing his memorable moments as his marriage and the birth of his children, he is a true family man who spends his spare time with them watching movies on the first day of release. Else, he is continuously learning on the internet.
“My family understands my responsibilities towards my organization and the workmen who depend on me,” he says sincerely, “and my seniors trust me to give my 100 percent. I carry their expectations on my shoulders and till date, I have ensured that I have met them,” he signs off with a winning smile.
Rajeev Roshan,
Assistant Manager – Accounts
The main aim of a Corona Warrior is to ensure that the workmen at his/her site are happy, contented and engaged. For Rajeev Roshan at B&F’s CAPFIMS (Central Armed Forces Institute of Medical Sciences) project, the good news is that the nearly 2,000 workmen at his site are acknowledging that L&T is taking care of them during these difficult times. “Workmen are happy seeing us coming forward to take care of their facilities and meet their needs,” he says. “Engaging and keeping them (the workmen) occupied were big tasks so we have arranged movies, dance programmes and Yoga sessions for them. In fact, during this lockdown period, we engaged them with the help of the Delhi police by organising a Musical night. All our workmen participated whole-heartedly and enjoyed a lot,” he smiles.
Having joined L&T in 2007, Rajeev is on his 6th project at CAPFIMS, “and my 4th as a project accountant,” he reminds. He started off at Maruti’s KB Casting plant at Gurgaon, then to a mall, hotel & office complex project at Chandigarh, a short stint at ITC- Manpura (HP) and then back to the Chandigarh project followed by three years at MUD Chandigarh and a couple of years at ITBA Chandigarh. “From 2017, I have been at CAPFIMS.”
“When the virus started to spread and the lockdown was announced, our first and major challenge was to educate the workmen that they have to remain in their respective rooms for their safety,” says Rajeev. “Due to the design and construction of the labour camp, social distancing was a big challenge, so we took control of the nearly completed building and converted it into a labour residing area.” Apart from the normal precautionary steps, Rajeev and his team coordinate daily with the camp bosses, Ramakant Thakur, Dinesh Kumar and Vinay Kumar Thakur and the housekeeping teams at the habitats to ensure adequate water for the workers and other welfare measures. Siting a specific issue, Rajeev says that “as the government was not issuing passes in the initial stages, we identified some essential workers like sweepers, electricians, sewage cleaners and arranged for their accommodation with food at our camp itself. All the decisions are taken with the help of our seniors and we were in regular touch on team/phone calls to take their guidance,” he adds.
Hailing from Darbhanga in Bihar, Rajeev’s better half is Priya Kumari, a homemaker, and they are blessed with two children, daughter, Shubhangi (“her birth was the most memorable moment of my life,” gushes Rajeev) and son, Ruchir. “I like watching cricket and travelling, yes, whenever I get the time,” he smiles.
Manjit Singh,
Assistant Manager – Industrial Relations (B&F IC)
Manjit Singh’s forte of his own admission is his ability to effectively manage large workforces. “I have worked at projects of scale having sizeable workforces,” he states. “Earlier, I worked at the Delhi One Project in Noida where I was handling 4000 workmen. Before that I was at the Statue of Unity project site in Khivadia Gujarat where we had 3500 workmen. In fact, during those last days just before the PM’s inauguration, our numbers went way past 4,000,” he says recalling his action-packed days, to build the world’s largest statue. Prior to SoU, he was at the Bamboo Hotel Aerocity – Asset 13 project where with a workforce of only 450, he must have felt lonely!
Even with such a rich experience of handling workforces of considerable size, Manjit found managing the workforce of about 2200 workmen at his present site, the IICC project at Dwarka, extremely challenging more because of the unfamiliar circumstances created by COVID-19. “Ensuring their health and safety was no easy task,” Manjit shakes his head at his huge responsibility, “especially making them understand the importance of social distancing and following precautionary measures.”
Apart from all the mandatory precautionary steps, Manjit coordinated with the team to arrange for a Mobile ATM at site so that the workmen did not have to venture out of the site. He is all praise for his colleagues especially the Account Head and the site management who stood by him in this fight and he points out that during these tough days, his father has been his big inspiration. “At a time when the safest thing was to stay at home, I was going to office and obviously my family was worried but every time I hesitated, my father used to remind me that although the family needs me, my site needs me more. That gave me the strength and courage to return to site everyday and give my 100% to keep our workmen and staff safe.”
Hailing from Amritsar, Manjit is married to Jeetkamal Kaur, a home maker, and they have a son, Gursimranjot Singh. A self-professed movie buff and a family man, Manjit likes to spend his spare time bonding with his family members. Quite unsurprisingly, one might add.
Signing off, he says “I am happy to be with an organization like L&T that cares, contributes to the Nation in this fight against COVID-19 and values every employee.”
Saroj Kumar Swain,
Senior Engineer (EHS) – B&F IC
One of Saroj Kumar Swain’s biggest strengths is his ability to stay calm under pressure, a strength that has come in very handy when dealing with the 670-odd workmen at B&F’s Wipro IT SEZ project site. ‘’As the news of the pandemic spread, quite naturally, the workmen started to panic. I had to step in immediately as part of the COVID response team to calm them down, make them aware of the reality of the situation, what this virus was all about and the preventive measures that they had to take to keep themselves and all of us at the site safe and sound,” he shares. “As I interacted with them, I realised that most of them needed moral support. Our workmen are a close-knit family used to closely interacting with each other, so while it was important to keep them together emotionally, it was equally important for us to impress upon them the norms and advantages of social distancing.”
Having worked earlier at L&T’s IIT Project Ph-1, Hyderabad handling the requirements of over 1600 workmen, Saroj has a good grip of managing a sizeable workforce. Revealing a bit of his personal side, Saroj says emotionally, “Perhaps, the most memorable moment in my life was my son’s birth and to be honest, in that moment, I found new meaning in life and therefore when I see our workmen, I picture their families, their children and I ensure that I give my 100 percent to safeguard their health and safety.”
He spearheaded the various COVID-19 precautionary measures adopted at site and mentions with a certain sense of achievement that everyone has seen through the worst of the crisis and are safe. “Of course, we worked very hard to make it happen, but I have to thank my seniors and my team members for their wonderful support in our fight against this pandemic.”
Hailing from Cuttack in Odisha, Saroj’s personal world is his wife, Monalisha Malik, a homemaker, and son, Soumyaranjan Swain. “They are my biggest strengths,” he says. “I love listening to music, surfing the internet and reading novels and yes,” he nods, “I followed these regularly,” with a laugh.
“Today, as I play a small part to ensure the safety of our workmen, I am proud to work for an organization like L&T where every workman and employee is valued,” he concludes with a sense of pride and gratitude.
Padala Satyanarayana Reddy,
Senior EHS Engineer (B&F IC)
For Padala Satyanarayana Reddy, Senior EHS Engineer at the AIIMS Hospital Project now in the frontline as a Corona Warrior, the day begins with a purpose – to ensure that all his 1600 workmen are safe and healthy. “Managing such a massive workforce and ensuring their basic needs and monitoring their daily health was a herculean task,” he says with a sigh, “But we have been successful to keep diseases at bay because of our dedicated efforts.”
Satyanarayana is altruistic at heart and hence it came as no surprise to his colleagues when he donated INR 25,000 in his individual capacity to fight COVID-19 and arranged for 3000 masks and 100 hand sanitizers at the site during the lockdown period.
He joined L&T in 2012 as a DET at the Godrej Simoco Project, Kolkata that had a capacity of 1300 workmen. He then moved as Cluster EHS Coordinator in the Kolkata Cluster for the next four years and then as the EHS In-Charge for High Rise Multi-storeyed Office Building, Bhubaneswar. Currently he is Senior EHS Engineer at the AIIMS project, where L&T has been mandated to construct a hospital and academic campus over a built up area of approximately 17 lakh square feet.
With the outbreak of the virus, Satyanarayana was quick to develop and implement COVID 19 Induction Modules for the staff and workmen to build awareness. Elaborating on keeping physical contact minimal, he says, “Apart from following the highest standards of sanitation and hygiene, we used various digital platforms like Microsoft Teams, Arogya Setu App and social media for information sharing and spreading awareness.”
Hailing from Konkuduru (Andhra Pradesh), Satyanarayana is married to Padala Sudha Rani, a homemaker, who has been a strong pillar of support throughout. They are blessed with a daughter, Jayasri Sanvika, whose birth was his most memorable moment. Satyanarayana volunteers for community service during his free time, loves to participate in sporting activities and is fiercely competitive. Apart from this, he also introspects during solo journeys and cites his first to Darjeeling as a memorable one.
“My efforts would have been in vain without the strong backing of Project Director, Anand Thiagarajan, Cluster EHS Manager, G Madhava Kumar and Department In-charge, Suresh Thomas,” he says with gratitude. “Not only have they encouraged me but have given me complete freedom to implement all initiatives. At L&T, we are one big family and our seniors walk the way with us,” he states, with a gleam in his eye.
Jangala Nagesh
Executive (Accounts), B&F IC
B&F IC’s Jangala Nagesh handles IR at the Raheja Hyderabad project site and for a 9-year-old at L&T, he is all praise for the company he keeps, and the reasons are obvious. “I can proudly say that I am working in L&T,” he declares. “A company that takes care of their employees and workmen. Even during this lockdown, the company has provided all the facilities to the workmen, paid their wages and even paid our salaries without any reduction!”
Nagesh joined L&T in 2011 and was immediately posted at the Vicatsagar Cement Plant site as Supervisor (Accounts) in the accounts department. “In 2014, I was transferred to the Hyderabad Metro Rail Project as Project Accountant to oversee the Stage 4 site. I was there till May 2019. In fact,” he says, “one of my most memorable moments in my life was when I saw the train start operating at Hyderabad Metro.” After a short stint at the IIT Hyderabad Phase II site, he has moved to the Raheja site to work in the IR department and right into the heat of action because as the lockdown began, the biggest challenge facing the IR team and the entire site management was how to manage and keep the workmen engaged and, at the same time, safeguard their health and safety.
Most importantly,” says Nagesh, “we gave confidence to all our workmen that we were all with them, and weekly twice, along with our Project Accountant, Project Planning In Charge we used to interact with them to meet their requirements and sort out all issues that they were facing.” Apart from taking all the necessary precautionary measures, Nagesh is happy that the workmen have reciprocated to his and the company’s good gestures of looking after them during these unprecedent times. He is quick to acknowledge the way his seniors have supported him in this exercise. “They have put in 100% efforts,” he says with feeling. “Every morning at 9 o’clock, we have a con call with our PM, Safety In charge, Project Accountant, Planning In charge and Colony Camp Boss to take stock. We have taken utmost care of our workmen and their health,” he stresses.
Hailing from Warangal in Telangana, Nagesh happily admits that he gets 100% support from his wife, Vineela, a homemaker, his two children, Srinidhi and Kartheek Ganesh and his parents. When he finds the time, he pursues his hobbies, “I like reading books, meditation and learning new languages.” It is however great that he has learnt the language of taking care of his workmen that has earned him the title of being a true ‘Corona Warrior’.
K Balamurugan,
Assistant Officer (IR), B&F IC
His son, Sai Vidhyuth, whom he calls “My little Champ” is only 4 months old and is someone young K Balamurugan is missing very badly. “Initially my family was afraid about me working at site during these uncertain times of the virus but later they understood my job profile and were supportive,” he shares. “They have understood what I am doing at site and that we are all in this together. I miss my family very much especially my son, yet the site needs me more and my family is proud of what I am doing. Thanks to L&T for the opportunity!” Spoken like a true Corona Warrior!
Posted at the Chennai International Airport – MLCP site, the biggest challenge for Balamurugan and the site management team was to ensure the safety and health of the workmen staying so close to a functioning airport. “We have about 650 workmen and 45 staff at site,” he informs, “and keeping such a big group of people at the camp and practice social distancing was a huge task,” he shakes his head. And sure enough, crisis came visiting the team when one of the workmen, Kameshwar Gupta, fell seriously ill with high fever and a fast-declining platelet count. “For two days, we struggled to find a donor but during this critical period, we managed the situation well, got him admitted and soon things worked out well and he is fine now,” smiles Balamurugan with relief.
Having joined L&T in 2015 as a PGT, Balamurugan has had several short stints at Hyderabad Metro project, APCRDA housing project and Raheja, Chennai before moving to the Chennai Airport MLCP site. Once the lockdown was announced, he has thrown himself whole-heartedly into looking after the wellbeing of the workmen and shares with great satisfaction, “The local inspector visited our site and then an Intelligence Inspector also came and both of them were very appreciative of our preventive measures.”
Obviously, such a huge task cannot be achieved by an individual and he is quick to acknowledge the support that he has received from his seniors like Project Manager, Swaminathan Ganesan. “He never fails to ask me about my family members whenever he calls me,” shares an emotional Balamurugan, “because he is aware that I am away from my wife, Mahalakshmi, who is a homemaker and my little Champ,” he shares, his face lighting up at the mention of his son. “I love to see movies and have late night hang outs but after I have started working, I rarely get the chance,” he smiles ruefully.
