Electrosteel Castings Ltd. is a water infrastructure Company and pipeline solutions provider, pioneering in the manufacturing of Ductile Iron pipes in India in their mission to provide clean drinking water for nearly seven decades. The Company has instituted the Electrosteel Jal Sevak Samman, to acknowledge the contributions of individuals and institutions in the water space. The first edition of the award was held today in the august presence of several dignitaries including the Chief Guest, Swami Suparnananda, Secretary, Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Golpark, and Guests Of Honour, Padmashri Mr Uma Shankar Pandey, a social worker best known for his contributions towards ground water conservation and Ms Melinda Pavek, Consul General, United States of America.
 
The awardees for Electrosteel Jal Sevak Samman 2023 are Prof (Dr) Abhijit Mukherjee, Professor of Geology & Geophysics, Environmental Science & Engineering, IIT Kharagpur and Nature Mates, an NGO based in Kolkata. The Jury members of this award were Mr Subhaprasanna, Noted Painter & Former Chairman, WB Heritage Commission, Mr Soumen Mitra, IPS (Retd.), Officer on Special Duty & Director, Training, Government of West Bengal & Former Commissioner of Kolkata Police, Dr Jayanta Sengupta, Former Curator, Victoria Memorial Hall, Kolkata and Mr M K Jalan, Director, Electrosteel Castings Limited.

“At Electrosteel, we acknowledge water’s priceless imprint on existence. We have always been committed to doing our bit as a responsibly aware organisation for the community and environment. An industry pioneer in India, Electrosteel has always remained the distinct choice for engineers and domain experts in the water space. As a part of our ongoing efforts to turn our planet into a greener one and create newer dimensions of sustainability, we have constituted the Electrosteel Jal Sevak Samman. This will be an annual initiative of the Group, where we would acknowledge the contributions of an individual and an institution, who work in the water space,” said Mr Sunil Katial, Director & Chief Executive Officer, Electrosteel Castings Ltd.
 
The theme song of Electrosteel Jal Sevak Samman, ‘Water Water Everywhere’ written by Mr Ketan Sengupta and composed and sung by the pop legend, Padmashri Ms Usha Uthup, was launched on the occasion.
 
In an age of dwindling natural resources, conservation has assumed enormous importance. Water conservation, its quality and availability are some globally relevant issues that need to be addressed immediately. Since the business of Electrosteel has a strong synergy with water, Electrosteel Jal Sevak Samman, an annual award has been constituted for felicitating individuals and institutions that have undertaken initiatives in the water space, for a better present and future of mankind. This Award will act as a catalyst to understand the value of water and its immense importance to all forms of life.
 
The evening concluded with a scintillating performance by Pandit Tanmoy Bose and the members of Baul & Beyond.
 
Prof (Dr)Abhijit Mukherjee

Prof (Dr) Abhijit Mukherjee is a Professor, a Scientist and an Environmentalist. He works at the Department of Geology and Geophysics and the School of Environmental Science and Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur. He is globally known for his studies on geological and human-sourced groundwater pollution like arsenic, fluoride, sanitation-borne and emerging contaminants in more than a dozen countries around the world. He has done extensive work on groundwater quantity and scarcity in the Indian subcontinent by using advanced computation and Artificial Intelligence. His work has provided input to the government in understanding the country’s drinking water and food security. He received the National Geoscience Award 2014, conferred by the President of India. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology in 2020.
 
Nature Mates

Nature Mates is an independent NGO working on various conservation aspects to protect the rich biodiversity of India in collaboration with government agencies and non-governmental organizations. It has carried out a successful restoration of the Santragacchi Jheel, Purbasthali Lake, Bikramgarh Jheel and many other ponds in and around Kolkata city. Nature Mates aspires to develop an understanding of nature from all aspects and plan issue-based activities to develop a safe and healthy haven for humans and non-humans to co-exist with mutual respect.