India Skills Kerala Concludes, State to Host Zonal India Skills

KOZHIKODE:
Curtains fell on India Skills Kerala 2020 this evening with Transport Minister A.K. Saseendran announcing the conclusion of the three-day government-organised event where 253 participants proved their finesse in 39 disciplines, reinforcing the state’s contribution to the country’s onward march as a major world power.

Labour, Skills & Excise Minister T P Ramakrishnan, who was present at the valedictory, announced that Kerala will host the South Zone competition of the upcoming India Skills event. The Minister also expressed the hope that the state would also be selected as the venue of the national event.

In his address at the valedictory function at Swapna Nagari here, the Transport Minister said, “Today’s labour market warrants youth to be extremely skillful. Knowing this well, the government is striving to equip the new generation with a range of skills.”

“Each contestant here performed in a way that gave hope to the state and the country. We are particularly happy they included girls as well as school students. The industry leaders must come forward to appoint the participants, who proved their mettle in the event, as internees to gain experience in their respective skills,” he said at the ceremony presided over by Industrial Training Department (ITD) Director S Chandrasekar, who is Managing Director of Kerala Academy for Skill Excellence (KASE).

Prize money totalling Rs 78 lakh has been given at India Skill Kerala, organized by the ITD and KASE, both under the Labour and Skills Department. Saseendran also gave away cash awards and prizes to the winners.

Later this year, Delhi will host the national competitions, from where the winners will represent India at World Skills 2021 (83 countries, 54 skills) at Shanghai in China. The India Skills Kerala gave top winners Rs 1 lakh each, while every runner-up earned Rs 50,000. Those who finished scoring the next four ranks got Rs 10,000 each.

Saseendran said the panel discussions at the event gave the participants new ideas on building their career. “Tomorrow’s generation can blend conventional wisdom in a way that meets the requirements of the future,” he added.

In his address, Chandrasekar said with the successful conducting of the event, Kerala has become a role model for other states. “I hope in the coming editions, we can include more different skills. The event could create great awareness among the public about the importance of skill development.”

Other speakers were Kozhikode District Collector Seeram Sambasiva Rao, Odisha Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Director G Raghu, his Goa counterpart Dipak S Desai and Kerala Labour and Skills Department Additional Secretary Nisha S.

ITD Additional Director P K Madhavan welcomed the gathering while ITD Additional Director KS Dharmarajan proposed thanks. The valedictory session was followed by a ghazal concert by musician and playback singer Shahabaz Aman.

While inaugurating the event on Saturday, Minister Ramakrishnan had announced that Kerala would soon come up with a State Skills Policy.

India Skills Kerala 2020 (age limit 21 years) held technological exhibitions alongside three open forums and as many cultural evenings. The district-level competitions were held last month, with 4,298 contestants. The 1,278 winners from districts qualified for the zonal rounds held separately for the north, central and south regions.The age bracket of the contestants has been wide, as they included little boys and girls as well as adults of any educational qualification.