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Padmavibhushana Dr. E. Sreedharan to Receive George Fernandes memorial national award - A Brief Profile of Dr. E. SREEDHARAN and the Award Invitation.

A Brief Profile of Dr. E. SREEDHARAN

Dr. E. Sreedharan, born on 1-2th June 1932 in a remote village of Palghat District in Kerala, had a brilliant academic career and took his degree in Civil Engineering in 1953 from the Government College of Engineering, Kakinada standing first in the Andra University. He had a small stint as lecturer in Civil Engineering in the Government Polytechnic, Kozhikode and later as Sub Engineer in Bombay Port Trust before he entered the elite Indian Railway Service of Engineers (IRSE) in December 1954.

As an Executive Engineer on Southern Railway he came into spotlight when  he restored the L26 spans of Pamban Railway Bridge, which got washed away by tidal waves an 22"d December L963, in a record time of 46 days as against the target of 6 months set by Railway Ministry. He held many challenging and responsible posts on Indian Railways, including chief Engineer (ConstructionJ Southern Railway, General Manager, Western Railway and retired in June 1990 as Member Engineering, Railway Board and as ex-officio Secretary to the Government of India. In between he was also on deputation to the country’s biggest Shipyard at Kochi, as its Chairman and Managing Director [CMD).On his retirement, he was appointed to head the Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd as its CMD. He executed the 760 km long Konkan Railway, from Mumbai to Mangalore, through the most difficult terrains, in an incredibly short period of seven years.

On completion of Konkan Railway in November L997, he was selected to head the prestigious Delhi Metro as its Managing Director. 1-80 kms of Delhi Metro was commissioned by the time he stepped down in December 2011.Today, Delhi can boast of a world class Metro consisting of L2lines covering 393 km with 2BB stations , carrying 75 lakhs of passengers daily. It is the pride of our nation.

Following the success .of Delhi Metro, Dr. Sreedharan has been spearheading the spread of Metro systems in many other cities of the country. In the process, metro projects have now come up in 21, cities in India. His pioneering contribution to the Delhi Metro and to the spread of Metro revolution in the country earned him the nick name "Metro Man".

2. Though he retired from Delhi Metro in December 2011, he continued active as the Principal Advisor, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRCJ, overseeing many Metros of the country. He served as an Adviser to the Railway High Level Safety Committee (2013J headed by Dr. Anil Kadkokar and was the Chairman of One Man Committee on decentralization of powers to Zonal Railways. He had served in the High-Level Advisory Group on Sustainable Transport IHLAG-STJ of United Nations for UN Secretary General. Mr. Ban Ki-moon Dr. Sreedharan is recipient of many prestigious awards from the Government and professional bodies in India and abroad. To mention a few, Times of India adjudged him as the "Man of the Year" in 2002. The TIME MAGAZINE chose him as one of the ASIAN HEROES in 2003. The President of French Republic awarded him the highest civilian honour of "Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur" fKnight of the Legion of HonourJ in 2005. He was named one of the "top 25 newsmakers of 2005" by US’s premier publications on construction industry "Engineering News Record". He was awarded "The Person of The Year" by the India Vision News Channel in 2006. He was given "Man of the Year Award for Public Service" and "lndian of the Year Award" - from CNN - IBN in 2007.He has been bestowed with the second highest civilian award of Japan by emperor of fapan "The Order of Rising Sun, Gold and Silver star" on 06th November,20L3. Government of India awarded him "Padma Shri" in 2001 and "PadmaVibhushan" in 2008.

He has been awarded Honorary Degree of Doctor of Science/  Philosophy/Literature by many IITs/Universities {21 in number), Hon’ble High Court of J&K appointed him as a technical Consultant for the rejuvenation and preservation of the famous Dal Lake in Srinagar on 18tr Sept.2A1B for 3 years.

He received Economic Times [ET] Lifetime Achievement Award for Corporate Excellence from Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, Finance Minister at Bombay on 30.L 1-.2OIg. He is an ardent student of Bhagawad Geetha and Srimad Bhagawatham.