Eastern Railway Deputy Chief Mechanical Engineer (Freight) receives prestigious Ashoka Award 2025

Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], October 13 (ANI): Deputy Chief Mechanical Engineer (Freight)/ HQ, Eastern Railway, Rajeev Roushan, has been awarded with the prestigious Ashoka Award 2025 today at Indian Habitat Centre in New Delhi for his trailblazing innovation of the Machine Vision Inspection System (MVIS) of Rolling Stock (Jointly developed by the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, DFC, M/s L2M), installation & improvising of Hot Axle Box Detector (HABD) and operation of Truck on Train (TOT) service over DFC network during his Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFCCIL) tenure.
Every year, the award is given by Charles Walter's Society for Innovation & Research (CWSIR), an independent Research & Innovation Society, prompting and supporting research and innovation through human resource development, involving science & technology, academics, literature, etc.
The honour of the Ashoka Award is a prestigious recognition dedicated exclusively to accomplished bureaucrats who have demonstrated commendable excellence in the judiciary, policing, public administration, governance, etc. Roushan was shortlisted among 200 nominees by the jury.
Such improvisation of HABDs and development of MVIS in DFC are being followed by Indian Railways. These technologies helped to save many accidents en route. It is well known that MVIS is an automated way-side equipment inspection system consisting of high-speed cameras, servers and software which uses artificial intelligence (AI) to analyse data and generate alerts for rolling stock defects while in motion with actual images, position of the rolling stock, with number, etc. Also, the improvised web portal of HABD, which was developed by him during his tenure at DFC, is used by Indian Railways, which helped to analyse the trend of rolling stock failure for future action plan and improvements.

This is not the first feather in his hat. He was earlier honoured with the National Award on April 30, 2019, in Mumbai by the Minister for Railways for creating a path-breaking software that made railway operations paperless during his tenure at the Research Designs & Standards Organisation (RDSO). He also received an Annual DFC Award in 2023 for his commendable work in developing wayside equipment on the DFC track.
At present, Roushan is working under Milind K Deouskar, General Manager/ER and Shri. Permanand Sharma PCME/ER, who is continuing his service with devotion for better improvements in Eastern Railway in regard to the installation of way-side equipment, operation of freight trains, etc. From driving digital transformation to engineering innovation, Rajeev Roushan is continuing to redefine excellence in Indian Railways. His journey is not just an achievement but an inspiration for generations of innovators. (ANI)