Rebuilt blast furnace of RSP dedicated to nation

ROURKELA:  Union Minister of Steel Chaudhary Birender Singh along with his Tribal Affairs counterpart and Sundargarh BJP MP Jual Oram on Monday dedicated the rebuilt blast furnace (BF)-1 ‘Parvati’ at Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) of SAIL to the nation. Singh also laid foundation for a super speciality block at the RSPrun Ispat General Hospital (IGH). In his maiden visit to RSP, the Steel Minister landed at Rourkela airport of SAIL and was accorded a guard of honour by the CISF unit of the plant. Singh was taken in a procession to Rourkela House and later, he drove to IGH to lay foundation for Burns and Plastic Surgery department of the Super Speciality block.

In April 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced to upgrade IGH into Super Speciality Hospital and Medical College. However, the upgradation project is moving behind schedule. Singh later dedicated the rebuilt BF-1 to the nation.

Significantly, ‘Parvati’ is the country’s first public sector blast furnace which was dedicated to the nation on February 3, 1959 by then President Dr Rajendra Prasad. The BF-1 was put down on August 6, 2013 for total rebuilding for addition of superior technology and capacity expansion. After BF-1 was rebuilt, its annual production capacity has increased from 0.438 million tonnes (MT) to 1.015 MT. The two Union Ministers also visited the state-of-the-art New Plate Mill of RSP.

Singh later interacted with senior officers of RSP at the CEO’s conference room and inquired about the performance of plant. Meanwhile, a delegation of BMS-affiliated Rourkela Ispat Karkhana Karmachari Sangh (RIKKS), RSP’s recognised trade union, led by general secretary HS Bal met the Union Steel Minister and apprised him of their demands.

The BMS is demanding immediate finalisation of wage revision for public sector steel workers with removal of ‘affordability clause’, Junior Engineer designation to Diploma holders and immediate appointment of doctors and para-medics at IGH. Singh is scheduled to leave for Kalinga Nagar on Tuesday morning in a helicopter. Among others, Union Steel Secretary Dr Aruna Sharma, Joint Secretary to the Steel Ministry Puneet Kansal, SAIL Chairman PK Singh and RSP Chief Executive Officer Ashwini Kumar were present.