Bhubaneswar: After three days of grit and passion, the Eastern Chapter of IndiaSkills Regional Competitions 2018 concluded Tuesday with a grand ceremony here.
The finale was graced by Governor Ganeshi Lal who was the chief guest. The others present were Sanjay Kumar, Principal Secretary, Odisha Skill Development Authority and Dipak Kumar Singh, Principal Secretary, Bihar Skill Development Mission along with Rajesh Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, and Manish Kumar, MD & CEO, National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC).
Congratulating the winners Governor Ganeshi Lal said, “It is a proud moment for us to host the Eastern Chapter of IndiaSkills Regional Competition 2018 in Bhubaneswar. Till now I had been addressing Odisha as a state which is natural, cultural and spiritual. I would now add that it’s skilful too. I congratulate all the contestants who came here and displayed their skills and urge others to continue being a part of this.”
“Evolution is the only constant. Evolution through skills will empower youth to become successful. If we continue treading this skill journey which has been envisioned by our Prime Minister, India will soon surpass countries like China. Till date our nation was known for One Man and One Vote. Skill India has the potential to change this to One Man, One Vote and One Value which will be a step towards the New Bharat of our dreams,” he added.
Addressing the closing ceremony, Rajesh Agrawal, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship said, “My heartfelt thanks to all the participants who made this event a huge success. Big congratulations to the winners who made it to the nationals. IndiaSkills today is synonymous with quality. The WorldSkills competition are held as per global standards once in two years and this would be India’s 6th participation in the competition. Through India Chapters we ensure standards percolates down into our system.”
Around 225 competitors across 27+ skilled trades competed in one of the biggest skill competitions in the region. The participants were from the seven states of Odisha, Bihar, Assam, Nagaland, Tripura, Jharkhand and Meghalaya.
Participants in the competitions came from trades like Cooking, Restaurant Service, Confectionery/Pastry Cook, Beauty Therapy, Hairdressing, Mechanical Engineering Design (CAD), Web Design, Electronics, IT Software Solutions, Graphic Design Technology, Mobile Robotics, and others.
The event had distinguished participants from humble backgrounds. For example a 15-year-old competitor from Nagaland participated in the cooking contest and a boy from Odisha, who did a six-month course at CTTC, Hospitality College, participated in IndiaSkills Odisha.
Since April, 500+ district and state level competitions were organised across India. The eastern chapter of IndiaSkills regional competition is the fourth and last competition.
The winners from regional competitions will compete at the National Competition where winners will get a chance to undergo best in class industry training and represent India at the WorldSkills International Competition 2019 at Kazan in Russia.