Jaswant Gill’s bust installed at Mine Rescue Station in West Bengal

A bust of late engineer Jaswant Singh Gill, the hero of Raniganj coal mine rescue in 1989, was inaugurated at the Mine Rescue Station (MRS) in Sitarampur near the Raniganj coal belt (West Bengal). The installation marked the 36th anniversary of the Mahabir Colliery mine rescue operation, when Gill, who was a mining engineer posted at the Mines designed a capsule to ensure each of the trapped 65 miners was rescued in time. It was a one-of-its-kind rescue operation in the country that earned Gill numerous awards and accolades, including the title of ‘Capsule Gill’.

The Amritsar-based engineer passed away in 2019. Gill, who has almost four decades of experience in mining and rescue operations, adopted the steel capsule technique for the first time in the history of coal mining and was posthumously awarded the ‘Bangla Gaurav Samman-2024’ last year. He had studied mining engineering from Indian Institute of Technology/ Indian School of Mines (IIT-ISM), an institute in Dhanbad (Jharkhand), between 1961 and 1965. He was also the recipient of the “Sarvottam Jeevan Raksha Padak”.

The story of his quiet, resilient act was told to the world with the film Mission Raniganj, starring Akshay Kumar.

His son, Dr Sarpreet Singh, said his father’s memory and lufe remains as an inspiration for other generations.

In Amritsar, a roundabout at Majitha Road has been kept after him, allowing citizens a chance to know about his legacy.