The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCC&I) for the first time organized a specially curated initiative named “BCC&I Wellness Warriors” on 19th December, 2022, at Air Force Auditorium, New Delhi.

The aim of the endeavour was to salute the Guardians of our Nation, the Armed Forces. This initiative was ideated by Mr Jitendra Kumar, Chairperson, CSR and Corporate Governance Committee, The Bengal Chamber and Company Secretary & President (Legal & Corporate Affairs), Exide Industries Limited; Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha, Former  Chief of the Air Staff(CAS), Indian Air Force and Former Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee, Hon. Member and Ambassadeur Extraordinaire, The Bengal Chamber; Mr.Anoop Hoon, Chairperson ,Marketing & Brand Committee, The Bengal Chamber and Independent Director, Berger Paints India Ltd. and Mr. Ranjan Sarkar, Chairperson , People Management Committee, The Bengal Chamber and  President HR, Exide Industries Limited which focused on the well-being of the Armed Forces Veterans and their families. The programme had the presence of Admiral R Hari Kumar, PVSM, AVSM, VSM, ADC, Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS), Indian Navy; Air Marshal Krishnaswamy Anantharaman, Air Officer Incharge Administration (AOA), Indian Air Force; Shri U K Bhattacharya, Director Projects, NTPC Limit; Ms. Ina Bose, Director - HR, Corporate Communications & Industry Connect, Sister Nivedita University, Techno India Group; Ms Subhrasri Sengupta, CHRO, Senco Gold and Diamond Pvt Ltd; Mr Amitabh Shah, Founder and Chief Inspiration Officer, Yuva Unstoppable and various other senior officers from Armed Forces and delegates from the industry.

The entire initiative consisted of a threefold approach, namely Resettlement, CSR Initiative, Felicitating the achievers from the armed forces.

RESETTLEMENT – The Bengal Chamber as part of the resettlement initiative organized specific HR Heads meet with the Directorate General Resettlement (DGR) and Indian Air Force Placement Cell (IAFPC) on 11th November 2022. HR Heads from 16 companies all across India participated and discussed about various job roles and specific aim of resettlement of the ex-servicemen. Subsequent to HR Heads meet the Chamber organized a very successful Job Fair with the Directorate General Resettlement (DGR) on 9th December, 2022 at the chamber premises. More than 550 job demands were generated through companies like EXIDE, Senco Gold and Diamonds, Infinity Group, CESC Limited, S&IB, Bank of Baroda and many more. A total of 16 corporates participated and raised job demands from all over India by the Chamber. In this job fair 525 Armed Forces personnel were interviewed, out of which 126 got shortlisted.

CSR INITIATIVE- Creating platforms where Corporates get an opportunity to participate in assisting the Armed Forces Personnel through their long-term CSR endeavours and by announcing their targeted CSR projects for a continued period. As part of the CSR connect initiative the Bengal Chamber has already contacted with Ms Namita Gautam, Managing Trustee, Sleepwell Foundation; Mr Raju Sharma, Indigo Airlines; Mr Mohammed Asif, Plan India; Mr Rohit Nayyar, Care India on the occasion of 19th December’s felicitation ceremony the CSR heads of the above mentioned companies were felicitated by naval chief and the work is in progress for collaboration. 

On 19th December 2022, at the Air Force Auditorium, New Delhi The Bengal Chamber arranged commemorative Panel Discussion on “Jeet Ka Ehsaas” to hear the stories of victory was empanelled by various dignitaries like Ms Subhrasri Sengupta, CHRO,Senco Gold and Diamond Pvt Ltd; Ms. Ina Bose, Director - HR, Corporate Communications & Industry Connect, Sister Nivedita University, Techno India Group; Air Marshal Krishnaswamy Anantharaman, Air Officer In-charge Administration (AOA), Indian Air Force; Shri U K Bhattacharya, Director Projects, NTPC Limited and the Panel discussion was moderated by Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha, Former Chief of the Air Staff, Indian Air Force and Former Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee.

FELICITATION - The commemorative panel discussion was followed by the felicitation ceremony which was designed to felicitate various achievers from 3 different Armed Forces. The achievers from Navy were Shri Kuldeep Singh MCPO I (PT) for his achievements in Wrestling; Shri Omkar Singh MCPO I (GW) for Shooting; Shri M Suranjoy Singh MCPO I (PT) for Boxing. Achievers from Air Force were Wg Cdr Ankur for Aerosport; Corporal Amar Singh Devanda (Eltro Fit of 8 Wg, AF) for Ultra Marathon; Sergeant Naveen Kumar – Kabaddi. And the Achievers from Army were Havildar (Lmn) Achinta Sheuli (Sigs) for Weightlifting (International Laurels); Havildar P Thirumala Rao (EME) for Hockey (International Player); Col Amit Bisht (Mahar) for Mountaineering (Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award 2021).

The initiative was supported by Presenting Partner- Sister Nivedita University, Chief Patron - JIS University, Gold Partner- Exide Industries Limited,  Silver Partner -CESC Limited, Fashion and Lifestyle Partner - Senco Gold and Diamonds, Supporting Partner- National Thermal Power Corporation Limited, Radio Partner- Friends FM, CSR Partner - Yuva Unstoppable.