The Construction Industry Development Council (CIDC) has conferred the Vishwakarma Award (VKA) for Public Officer on Akhilesh Srivastava, Chief General Manager (CGM), IT & Highway Operations, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), for his role in the realisation of the Central government’s ongoing highway modernisation project.

CGM Akhilesh Srivastava will receive the award on 7th March, 2018 in Stern Auditorium, India Habitat Centre (New Delhi) at the 10th CIDC Vishwakarma Awards ceremony. Srivastava is one among six persons who will receive the Achievement Award for Public Officer.

Also called the Vishwakarma Rashtriya Puraskar (VRP), the honour is an initiative of the Ministry of Labour & Employment, Government of India, to recognise the undertakings that have improved the Society.
Information on Akhilesh Srivastava’s undertakings for the reader: The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH) had initiated a multipronged cluster project to modernise India’s highways sector. The enterprise was then handed over to the NHAI, with CGM Srivastava at the helm.

Under the cluster initiative, the NHAI executive implemented several subprojects such as Electronic Toll Collection (ETC), Wayside Amenities (WSA), Advanced Traffic Management Systems (ATMS), UAVs and LiDARs for highways projects, and Online Dispute Resolution (ODR).
1. The ETC enables instant and automatic fee deduction at Toll plazas, eliminating the need for motorists to stop at Toll gates.
2. The WSA includes advanced civic amenities and is aimed at revamping commuter experience on national highways with modern comforts.
3. The ATMS incorporates advanced technologies and software into one central database to manage highway incidents including accidents, grid locks, traffic jams, natural disasters, toll fraud, etc. and automatically dispatch relevant services such as ambulance, tow-away trucks, excavators, cranes, among others.
4. UAVs and LiDARs are being used by the highway authorities to monitor highway projects and prepare their DPRs and enable the ATMs.
5. ODR uses advanced technology that digitalises cyber arbitration, mediation, and conciliation for the expeditious resolution of contract disputes between various parties in the highways sector and the construction industry.

The CIDC, a tripartite apex council established by the Planning Commission, the Union government, and the construction industry, awards individuals and organisations whose achievements are revolutionising and setting the benchmark for their respective domains in the roads and construction industries.

Around 185 persons, including entrepreneurs with high-revenue ventures helping the public sector, will receive the VRP honours under 16 categories and their subcategories, such as Achievement Award for Industry Doyen, Achievement Award for Creating Social Development and Impact, Achievement Award for Scientist/Academician/Technologist/Innovator, Achievement Award for Best News Coverage of Construction Industry, and many more.

The nominees, and the subsequent winners, are chosen by the CIDC management on the basis of suggestions from the public and private parties such as quality circles, general suggestions, safety suggestions, kaizen schemes, and others.