Employees of Kothari Petrochemicals’ Manali factory could not have wished for a finer gift from their employer at a time when fuel prices are rising. The corporation surprised its employees by giving everyone of them a bicycle.
The plant employs 142 people, and everyone gets the same bicycle – a Hercules – from the CEO to the janitor.
“We’ve already delivered 100 bicycles and are waiting for the next shipment,” says V Murugeswaran, senior manager (human resources and administration), Kothari Petrochemicals, adding that the bicycles were distributed at a National Safety Day event.
For several years, the corporation has promoted green ways of transportation among its employees. Last year, the company held a cycle rally in honour of World Environment Day to urge staff to ride their bicycles to work.
“We only had a few employees who came to work by bicycle, so we thought, ‘Why not give them all a bicycle?'” says Murugeswaran. The majority of the personnel live in and around Manali and rely on their own transportation or company-owned vehicles to get about.
Management believes that by providing such an incentive, some employees will make the switch.
One of them is Suresh Pachyappan, who works in the production department. Suresh began cycling to work the day after he received the gift. “I live in Madhavaram, about 4.5 kilometres from my workplace. Pedaling to work takes twice as long as riding my bike, but there are other advantages. Suresh says, “I’m already witnessing a significant reduction in my fuel expense.”
