“As one of the makers of Modern Odisha, Utkal Gaurav Madhusudan Das had paved the path of progress in the State. At the same time, his brave attempts as a quality-conscious entrepreneur are exemplary even today. In fact, Madhu Babu was the harbinger of quality movement in Odisha,” said Dr. Tapan Kumar Chand, CMD of Navratna NALCO. He was addressing the concluding ceremony of the 21st edition of the two-day All Odisha Quality Circle Convention, by NALCO on Thursday. The QC Convention is being organized by NALCO since 1996. This year, altogether 37 teams (29 Quality Circles and 8 Total Productive Maintenance Circles) from 22 organizations across the State participated in the convention. On the occasion, Dr. Chand announced the institution of ‘NALCO Utkal Gaurav Madhusudan Das Quality Award’. The award, carrying a purse of Rs.1 lakh and a citation shall be conferred on an industrial set-up having outstanding quality practices, in the next edition of the convention.
Citing the example of Madhu Babu’s Utkal Tannery, established in 1905, Dr. Chand said “While Madhu Babu was very much keen towards the industrial advancement of Odisha, his brainchild Utkal Tannery was an epitome of manufacturing excellence and quality. There were instances when he rejected the leather goods produced in the tannery having minor defects. In the process, he had suffered huge losses. However, for this commitment towards quality, Utkal Tannery, is remembered even today. NALCO, as a quality conscious enterprise, is carrying forward the quality movement, pioneered by Madhu Babu.”
In the competition, the Gold Plaque was bagged by Quality Circle ‘Discovery’ of Alumina Refinery, NALCO, while Quality Circle ‘Sea Hawk’ of Rourkela Steel Plant emerged as the Runners-up and won the Silver Plaque. Amongst TPM Circles, ‘LRP SEC-02’ of Tata Steel, Joda bagged the Gold Plaque, while ‘Quantum’ of JK Paper was Runners-up and won the Silver Plaque.
Among others, NALCO’s Shri S.C. Padhy, Director (HR), Ms. Soma Mondal, Director (Commercial) and Shri S.K. Roy, Executive Director (Production) were present on the occasion. At the inaugural ceremony, Shri N.R. Mohanty, Director (P&T), Shri K.C. Samal, Director (Finance) and Shri V. Balasubramanyam, Director (Production) were also present. Shri Chandreswar Khan, former Head of Training at TATA Motors and Dr. B.L. Bangray, Consultant of QCFI, Hyderabad officiated the competitions as judges.