The first edition of the India Skills Competition 2016 — the first of its kind in the country — culminated on Sunday with 24 winners from different States qualifying for selection at the World Skills International Competition in Abu Dhabi next year.
The competition marked the first anniversary of the ‘Skill India’ initiative by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) and witnessed the participants in the 18-22 years’ age group competing across 24 skill categories. The winners were awarded a sum of Rs1 lakh each with the first and second runners-up bagging Rs 75,000 and Rs 25,000 respectively.
Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), who gave away the prizes, said, “I am certain, Team India will yet again prove its mettle on the global skills map at WorldSkills Abu Dhabi 2017.”
At the last event organised at Sao Paolo, Brazil, in August 2015, a team of 29 candidates (all below 23 years of age) from India participated in 27 skills and won 8 medallions of excellence.
Rudy pointed out that in the past 15 days, MSDE has got cabinet approvals on 22,000 crore worth of outlay for programmes like Apprenticeship Protsahan Yojana and PMKVY 2, to be implemented over the next few years. There has been additional support through World Bank Projects as well, he added.
Day one of the three-day Skill India anniversary celebrations had seen Rudy announcing the launch of five major initiatives Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana -2, India International Skill Centres, IndiaSkills Online and a Labour Management Information System (LMIS) at Vigyan Bhawan, where the event was inaugurated by President Pranab Mukherjee.
“In order to select the best talent to represent India at India Skills, MSDE and NSDC completed more than 80 regional competitions in 24 skills/trades including hair stylist, welding, car painting, auto body repair, graphic designing, robotics to name a few,” a statement issued by MSDE maintained adding close to 4820 candidates registered to participate in the competition this year.
The statement said around 40 organisations like Mahindra, Tata, Maruti, Toyota, CII, FICCI, NASSCOM, CREDAI, NID, NIFT came together to make IndiaSkills a success (including consortium partners).