India Skills Kerala: Kozhikode to Host Feb 22-24 Final with Rs 78 Lakh Prizes

KOZHIKODE:
India Skills Kerala 2020 will hold its final round in the city for three days from this weekend, providing a platform to 253 participants to prove their eminence in 39 disciplines and win Rs 78 lakh prize monies besides an opportunity to participate in the national competitions and represent the country at World Skills 2021 in Shanghai, China.

The February 22-24 event at Swapna Nagari here will bring in the most competent of the candidates from the previous stages of India Skills Kerala being organised by the Kerala Academy for Skills Excellence (KASE) and Industrial Training Department (ITD). The event will highlight the state government’s efforts to develop finesse and expertise in a wide range of skills.

At the district level last month, the competitions had 4,298 candidates vying for honours. The 1,278 winners among them subsequently qualified for the zonal rounds held separately for the north, central and south regions of the state. The 253 winners among them now participate in the India Skills Kerala final at Swapna Nagari.

Overall, India Skills Kerala provides prizes worth Rs 78 lakh, informed State Labour and Skills Development Minister T P Ramakrishnan, who will be inaugurating the event’s final round here this Saturday. The function will be presided over by the event’s organising committee Chairman A Pradeepkumar, MLA.

“The winner of each skill will get Rs 1 lakh as prize money, while those coming second will be given Rs 50,000. Those finishing in the subsequent four ranks will get Rs 10,000 each,” Ramakrishnan told a press conference.

Noting that the world labour market is undergoing a “sea change”, the minister said India Skills Kerala aims to equip the state’s young generation to meet the emerging requirements in their field.

The state-level winners of India Skills Kerala 2020 will qualify for the national competitions. The prize-winning performers in that round will represent the country at World Skills 2021 in Shanghai, China. That global round next year will have youngsters from 83 countries vying for honours and prizes in 54 skills.

The February 22-24 event here will hold technological exhibitions and open forums featuring experts on a wide range of subjects, besides cultural evenings. The valedictory function, on Monday at 6.30 pm, will have Transport Minister A K Saseendran as the chief guest.

The inaugural function (10 am) of Indian Skills Kerala at Swapna Nagari will be addressed also by M K Raghavan, MP, Kozhikode Mayor Thottathil Raveendran, District Panchayat President Babu Parassery and District Collector S Sambasiva Rao, besides State Labour and Skills Development Additional Chief Secretary Satyajit Rajan and ITD Director of Training S Chandrasekhar, who is also KASE Managing Director.

The inaugural day will see experts leading an open forum on ‘Information Technology and 21st-century India’ (4 pm). The subjects for the following days are ‘Modern Labour Sectors and Skill Development’ (Feb 23, 2.30 pm) and ‘Innovative Ideas and Entrepreneurship’ (Feb 24, 4 pm).

The cultural segment will take off at 6 pm on February 22 with the traditional Kalarippayattu martial art by Kadathanadu Kalari Sangham, followed by a musical nite led by playback singer Sithara Krishnakumar. On February 23, Yamuna Ajin and Vaishnav Girish will present a musical nite, followed by an instrumental fusion concert by the Swam Band. On the valedictory evening, at 8 pm, playback singer and Sufi musician Shahbaz Aman will give a ghazal concert.

India Skills Kerala had its preliminary district-level competitions concluding on January 20, while the four-day zonal-level event concluded on the last day of that month. The age bracket of the contestants has been wide, as they include little boys and girls as well as adults of any educational qualification. The age limit for India Skills Kerala is 21 years,

The competition categories in India Skills Kerala 2020 are the following:
3D Digital Game Art, Auto Body Repair, Automobile Technology, Bakery, Beauty Therapy, Brick Laying, CNC Miling, CNC Turning, Cabinet Making, Car painting, Carpentry, Cooking, Cyber Security, Electrical Installations, Electronics, Fashion Technology, Floristry, Graphic Design Technology, Hair Dressing, Health and Social Care, Hotel Reception, Information Networking Cabling, Jewellery, Joinery, Landscape Gardening, Mechanical Engineering CAD, Mobile Robotics, Painting and Decorating, Patisserie and Confectionery, Plastering and Drywall System, Plastic Die Engineering, Plumbing and Heating, Print Media Technology, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning, Restaurant Service, Wall and Floor tiling, Water Technology, Web Technologies, and Welding.

The 2018 edition had three Malayalis competing at the international finale in Russia’s Kazan after the national round in Delhi. Kerala had 41 participants at the national round’s zonal-level competitions, from which 20 qualified for the Delhi event. There, at the India Skills 2018, Kerala won 10 medals (one coming from a wild-card entry). At the World Skills 2019 in Kazan, two from Kerala earned the Medallion for Excellence award.