R. P. Goenka, Chairman Emeritus of RPG Enterprises, received the lifetime achievement award from All India Management Association (AIMA). This was presented to him by Praful Patel, Union Minister for Civil Aviation, in New Delhi on Wednesday. This is the first-ever ‘Managing India' award by AIMA, a release said.
Accepting the award, Mr. Goenka said, “Thirty years ago in this hall, I got a tiraskaar (rebuke) from a Cabinet minister. So, when I heard that a Cabinet minister was presenting the awards, I thought I must accept the puraskaar,” he added.
“Goenka's journey from tiraskaar to puraskaar was as much the nation's journey,” Mr. Patel pointed out. “We have leapfrogged from being unknown and unrecognised,” he said.
Earlier, in response to two questions on the lifetime achievement award, Mr. Goenka said, “The post-Independence business pioneers operated both in fair and foul weather and patiently paved the foundation of economic and industrial activities that we see in India today – flourishing, confident, innovative and courageous.”
