BSE employees' work recognised only when blast rips building: MoS for External Affairs V K Singh

MUMBAI: The job of Bombay Stock Exchange ( BSE) employees, "working silently", never gets recognised except when a bomb blast goes off in the building, Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh said today.

A car bomb had gone off at the basement of the BSE building during the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts. The 28-storey office building and surrounding structures were badly damaged and nearly 50 people were killed in this explosion alone.

"BSE has been at the forefront of so many things...140 years...The oldest exchange that creates close to 100 lakh crore of wealth and is among the top 10 exchanges in the world and is progressing everyday," Singh said during an event at the BSE in Mumbai where he was felicitated for the success of 'Operation Rahat' in worn-torn Yemen earlier this year.

"It (BSE) is located in the financial capital of India and the type of silent job that you (the employees) do, never gets recognised, except when a bomb blast goes off in the building," he said.

"Of course it is a different thing that Mumbai has seen not too far away from here, another attack which brought everything to a halt," the Union Minister said apparently referring to the 2008 terror attack in Mumbai at various prominent places.

Appreciating the BSE employees, he said, "My kudos to all of you who have worked through all this and for ensuring that India's financial health gets restored to a great level. It is an exchange that came up from a humble background."

Twelve coordinated blasts, including one at the BSE building, had rocked the metropolis on March 12, 1993 in which about 250 people were killed and over 700 injured.