The Institute of Indian Foundrymen, Pune chapter has undertaken a noble task of rewarding the fellow foundrymen working in the industry with an award called the “Late Shri Shyam Karkhanis Memorial Award for Best Foundry Worker.” The 9th edition of the ceremony is scheduled to be held in Pune on 10th December and will see all the IIF member companies belonging to the Pune chapter participating in the same.
The Institute of Indian Foundrymen (IIF), established on the 14th of August 1950, is an organization that represents the foundrymen working in the industry. The members of the organization comprise individuals such as foundrymen, foundry academians, foundry technocrats, and the companies to which they belong across the country.
The idea of rewarding the individuals for their exceptional work was the brainchild of a meeting conducted by the IIF Pune Chapter committee, that was aimed at discussing the process of empowering the member companies and their workforce. The main purpose of the ceremony is to felicitate individuals who perform consistently well in their respective companies to empower them and to promote the foundry practices as well as the knowledge associated with the field, thus encouraging the evolution of the branch.
Talking about the inception of this ceremonial event, Sham Arjunwadkar, Chairman of the awards committee, IIF Pune Chapter said, “There have been many platforms for celebrating the achievements of companies and high profile individuals, but there has been a lack of recognition for the actual workforce. The prime purpose of this ceremony is to reward those individuals from the foundry practice and encourage them to keep up the good work.”
Sharadini Karkhanis, Former Chairperson of IIF Pune Chapter and an intellectual foundry person who has been closely associated with IIF for a long time backed the “Best Foundry Worker” initiative and announced to sponsor it. Mrs Karkhanis instituted the “Late Shri Shyam Karkhanis Memorial Award for Best Foundry Worker” in Pune Chapter in memory of her late husband Mr Karkhanis who was a great supporter of foundry practice and always volunteered to extend his support for the industry in any way possible. The Pune IIF Chapter had graciously accepted this decision in constituting the event.
The 9th edition of the event is scheduled to take place on the 10th of December, 2021. While the previous eight editions had seen a great response from the member companies, this edition is expected to have even greater responses considering the increasing awareness of the people concerned about this practice.
The Best Foundry Worker Award is handed to the deserving individual after a screening process that begins with filling out the application form with related details and judging it under fixed criteria to ensure fairness of the competition. The member companies of the IIF Pune Chapter are asked to participate in the competition by entering an employee that has put up a good performance for the company who are later judged by the committee panelists. The award recipient receives a memento, certificate, and a cash prize of Rs. 10,000.
In today’s evolving world, any practice must keep up with the technological advancements such as Kaizen, 5S, digital knowledge, etc. and it is also necessary to recognize the individuals/ organizations who are doing well. Since the initiative encourages the development of the foundry practice, the event’s popularity is growing day-by-day amongst the member companies and workmen with reputed companies with a large export business have shown their keen interest in the event.