Rourkela: Amid great rejoicing, thousands of people here today witnessed Dr Rajendra Prasad inaugurate the first blast furnace in the public sector.
As the molten iron, matching the crimson setting sun, poured out of the furnace the President said: “May the bellows of this plant herald the new age we are so eager to usher in.”
“Rourkela, Bhilai and other projects are no more than symbols of our aspirations; if you like I may call them the means of achieving the end which we have set for ourselves. We are determined to create a welfare State in this country,” he said.
“The establishment of basic heavy industries like the one I am inaugurating today signifies a stage in our journey to that destination.”
He said he felt that with the steel plants and their auxiliary industries going into production Rourkela might very well turn out to be “the Ruhr of India.”
The President was taken up to the 40-ft.-high bases of the blast furnace by a specially-constructed lift. The front of the furnace was decorated with Indian and German flags with a lighted relief map of India in centre spotlighting the location of Rourkela.
Dr Rajendra Prasad paid hand some tribute to the great contribution of the German government and industry in constructing the big plant. He remarked that “gyandan” (giving of know ledge) was a great boon, a blessing, no doubt, for him who receives but a still greater blessing for him who gives.”
Earlier, requesting the President to inaugurate the plant, Mr Swaran Singh said the inauguration was an occasion for joy and there was a great sense of fulfilment all over. He said that years of hard work, often in anxiety and in difficult living conditions, were beginning to bear fruit. While it would take two more years to complete the three steel plants it was more exciting and satisfying to see the first major steel unit go into production.
The distinguished gathering at the inaugural ceremony included the German Ambassador in India, the Orissa Governor, Mr Sukhtankar, the Chief Minister, Dr Mahatab, the Union Minister, Mr K. C. Reddy, and State Ministers.
Text of speech
The following is the text of the President’s speech:
As a public worker, as Minister in the Central Government and for some years now as President of the Indian Republic, I have had the good fortune of being associated in various capacities with many a public undertaking. With all that experience, I confess to a sense of pleasure and satisfaction that I am feeling today when my good friend, Sardar Swaran Singh, Minister for Steel, Mines and Fuel, has invited me to inaugurate the Rourkela steel works.
As you all know, it is one of the three major steel plants that we are going to have shortly in the public sector. To be associated in such a flattering way with this big project, first among the three, is a privilege which would ever cherish.
Barren tract
Sardar Swaran Singh has already given you necessary details of the Rourkela Steel Works, its brief history, its capacity and its potentialities. Seeing this giant plant in the midst of a big buzzing township, my mind goes back to the days when this region was hardly anything more than a vast expanse of barren, roadless derelict tract.
I recollect having passed through it several times while travelling from Calcutta to Wardha and Bombay. Even today one cannot help seeing stretches of land on both sides of the railway track, relieved only here and there by small patches of green fields. The Government had already arranged, through the construction of the Hirakud Dam, to confer fertility on this land. But few imagined that this area would one day become the centre of such a big industrial undertaking. Through this project, it has now been linked with India’s industrial belt in Bihar, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh.
The Ruhr of India
The going of Rourkela steel works into production along with other similar units which are also partially complete, encourages one to feel that this region, known for its mineral wealth, bids fair to become, in course of time, the Ruhr of India. With the wheels of industry moving from Rourkela and the benevolent waters of the Hirakud Dam flowing in all directions, one can be sure that the times are soon going to change for the better, particularly for the people inhabiting this area.
Rourkela steel works is no doubt a national undertaking and its working is going to have an impact on the economy of the whole country. But it is the proud privilege of the people of Orissa to have this plant in their midst. Let us hope they will benefit from it in a special way.
I see before me thousands of those hands whose labour and technical skill have been mainly responsible for turning a dream into a reality. To all these friends I would offer my warm congratulations and sincere good wishes. They can feel proud of the successful conclusion of their hard labour and sustained efforts for more than three years. It will take some time more for the project to be complete in its entirety, but the first major phase in its implementation has been reached today. They have every reason to feel that they have been able to make a substantial contribution to India’s nation-building effort, and this in itself is a priceless reward for every patriotic Indian.
Praise for Germans
I would particularly like to say a few words to our German friends. The goodwill of the West German Government, the technical skill and the spirit of co-operation on the part of all of you who have worked hard in the not-too-inviting climate of these parts, have been responsible for the coming of the Rourkela steel works into existence.
According to our ancient tradition, gyandan, the giving of knowledge, was considered to be a great boon, a blessing no doubt for him who receives, but a still greater blessing for him who gives. Let me hope that you will share that faith with us and while imparting technical knowledge to our men you will also have the satisfaction of having widened the scope of your technological attainments.
To all of you, ladies and gentlemen, who have come all the way from Germany to work here, I offer my greetings and sincere thanks.
I am happy to say that this huge undertaking has been accomplished with the ready and willing cooperation of the Government of Orissa, Indian Railways, the Hirakud authorities and various other organizations and concerns, both official and private. I would like to compliment them all on this performance.
Planned economy
Since our independence, the principal preoccupation of our national government has been to reconstruct the country’s economy so that production in all spheres can be increased substantially to improve our people’s living and to provide them basic amenities of life. To achieve this end, the Government has resorted to planned economy, that is to say, reconstruction by stages and with people’s full cooperation.
We are now in the midst of our second Five-Year Plan of which this steel works also forms a part. It is no small satisfaction to know that the targets of production which we fixed in the first Five. Year Plan were reached in almost all cases, in some cases figures of production going even beyond the targets.
As for the second Plan, which is, in many respects, more elaborate and the targets are naturally higher, every effort is being made to implement it. Completing the various projects envisaged in it is essentially a task which calls for popular cooperation.
Whatever success has been achieved is in a large measure due to the support of the public. Therefore, along with those who have laboured on this plant and the Government who in consultation with German firms prepared its blueprint, the people are also deserving of my congratulations, which I offer them.
Friends, Rourkela, Bhilai and other projects are no more than symbols of our aspirations; if you like I may call them the means of achieving the end which we have set for ourselves. We are determined to create a welfare State in this country, a State in which every citizen can be assured of a reasonably comfortable house, sufficient clothing and enough to eat.
The establishment of basic heavy industries like the one which I have the honour of inaugurating today signifies a stage in our journey on to that destination. Let me hope the Rourkela steel works will bring nearer the realization of our cherished dream, the establishment of a welfare State in India. May it prove to be a true portent of the future and may the bellows of this plant herald the new age we are so eager to usher in, is my hope and prayer.
Once again, I would like to thank each one of you who was privileged to work on this great project and congratulate you on the completion of this phase.
German envoy’s address
Speaking on the occasion, the West German Ambassador said that the plant was a remarkable achievement that would go to the credit of Indian endeavour.
He hoped that the cooperation between India and his country would lead to further exchange of ideas and personnel for the mutual benefit of either country.
Welcoming the president, Mr M. Ganapati, President-Director of the plant, said that work on the project had been taken up only two years ago and it was a new experience to many. There were, no doubt, several initial difficulties in its execution. But these were successfully overcome and the time schedule was kept up.
The project authorities, he added, would strain every nerve to finish the remaining units of the plant within the least time possible so that end products like steel sheets and plates could start flowing early next year.
Mr Garnjost, speaking on behalf of the German firm which erected the blast furnace, said that Rourkela was a “performance of peace …. a task accomplished in the spirit of freedom and for the benefit of many millions of Indian people.”