Amritsar, September 7: The management of the Indian Institute of Technology/ Indian School of Mining (IIT-ISM), a premier institute in Dhanbad, (Jharkhand) has announced a national award in the name of an Amritsar-based engineer Jaswant Singh Gill posthumously.
Christened as “Jaswant Singh Gill Memorial Industrial Safety Excellence Award”, it carries an award money of Rs 50,000.
The award was constituted to recognise the bravery of Gill, who risked his life to save 65 coal miners, trapped in the flooded Mahavir Coal mine in Raniganj area of West Bengal on November 13, 1989.
Gill had adopted the steel capsule technique that was attempted for the first time in the history of coal mining. His son Dr Sarpreet Singh Gill said the move was a tribute to his father’s heroic act and selfless approach to save lives.
The IIT/ ISM has taken this initiative as Gill had studied Mining Engineering from the ISM Dhanbad between 1961-1965. Born in Amritsar, he did his schooling from Khalsa College School and (BSc non-medical) from Khalsa College in 1959.
After an illustrious career spanning over 33 years, he retired as Executive Director (safety and rescue) from BCCL (Bharat Coking Coal Limited) Dhanbad, a subsidiary of Coal India Ltd.
After retiring in 1998, he returned to his hometown Amritsar and led a meaningful and an active life till his sudden demise on November 26, 2019. Earlier, he was awarded ‘Sarvottam Jeevan Raksha Padak’ by the President of India in November 1991.
