Venkaiah Naidu hails India as world's 'economic hope'

New Delhi : Vice President Venkaiah Naidu hailed India as the "economic hope of the globe."

Naidu, while presenting the Prime Minister's Shram Awards here on Monday, said the awards were an embodiment of the efforts put in by those working round the clock to "keep the wheels of the economy running."

"India is the economic hope of the globe and that picture is both fascinating and complex as our economy is fast expanding. Millions of workforces are working round the clock to keep the wheels of the economy running. This is the 'real GDP' festival. By this I mean, the 'Growth Driving Power' from among whom the 'Great Dedicated Persons' are being honoured today. These two GDPs are critical for the 'Gross Domestic Product', the GDP that we are all ultimately concerned with," he added.

338 workers were honoured with the Prime Minister's Shram Awards, whereby 194 prestigious awards for the years 2011-16 were presented away by the Vice President at Vigyan Bhawan here. These awards are given in recognition to those who have distinguished record of performance, demonstrated devotion towards duty of a high order, specific contribution in the field of productivity, safety, quality, proven innovative abilities, conservation of resources, presence of mind and exceptional courage. The awards are also given to those workmen, who have risked their lives or made supreme sacrifice of laying down their lives in the conscientious discharge of their duties.

Public Sector workers bagged 232 awards while 106 awards were bagged by the private sector. Awards were also bagged by a group of workmen together. Out of 338 awardees, 20 were women, while two were posthumously awarded.