E. SREEDHARAN CALLS FOR A GOOD WORK CULTURE

E. SREEDHARAN CALLS FOR

 A GOOD WORK CULTURE

E. Sreedharan, Principal Adviser to the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, has said that the Delhi Metro and Konkan Railway give lessons on how government projects can be completed in time.He was speaking at the TKM College of Engineering here on Monday after receiving the maiden Janab Thangal Kunju Mulasiar Award for Nation-building.Mr. Sreedharan, who headed the Delhi Metro and the Konkan Railway projects, said that on reaching here on Sunday, on his first visit to the city, he was surprised to see that work on a National Highway bypass had been dragging on for 25 years.The project did not face challenges such as drilling of tunnels or building of huge bridges.He said what was needed was a dedicated work culture, and Konkan Railway and the Delhi Metro had that in plenty. There were just four requirements for such a culture: punctuality, integrity, professional competence and social responsibility.

Punctuality, he said, is nothing but a courtesy to others by respecting the value of time.This base allows the Delhi Metro to maintain the punctuality of its trains at above 97 per cent.Recalling the construction of the Delhi Metro, Mr. Sreedharan said though the government provided 10 years to construct the 55-km first phase, the corporation took just seven years and three months to complete it, exactly within the budgeted cost of Rs. 10,500 crore.The 124-km second phase was completed in four-and-a-half years within the budgeted cost of Rs. 24,000 crore. The 135-km third phase had been drawn up with a budgetary allocation of Rs. 40,000 crore. The 760-km Konkan Railway, executed on one of the most difficult terrains ever in the history of railway construction in the country, was completed within seven years. All showed a dedicated work culture.The award, carrying a cash prize of Rs. 1 lakh and a citation, has been instituted by Club Millennium TKM 60 Plus, an organisation of old students of the college aged above 60.Antony Price, president of the club, gave away the awardMr. Sreedharan said the prize money would be spent on the welfare of the destitute and children from poor families.TKM College Trust chairman Shahal Hassan Mualisar and Principal of the college Parameshwaran spoke.

Prof. John Kurakar