IndiaSkills 2021 Northern Regional Competition starts today

Panchkula : IndiaSkills 2021 Regional Competition – North, organised by National Skill Development Corporation, commenced today with an inaugural ceremony at Inderdhanush Auditorium, Panchkula, Haryana. The competition will witness the performance of over 450 participants from eight states and union territories—Chandigarh, Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh. IndiaSkills is the country’s biggest skill competition that strives for skilling excellence, discovers skilled and talented youth, and polishes them for a global platform.

Today, the event was inaugurated by Hon’ble Shri Banwarilal Purohit, Governor of Punjab and Administrator, Union Territory of Chandigarh. It was also graced by Shri Dilip Kumar, IAS, Principal Secretary Employment Generation, Skill Development and Industrial Training, Punjab, Shri Sarpreet Singh Gill, IAS, Secretary Technical Education, Chandigarh, Prakash Sharma, Director, WorldSkills India, and Jaikant Singh, Senior Head, WorldSkills India.

The young participants, aged between 19 and 24 years, will compete in over 45 skills including autobody repair, beauty therapy, painting and decorating, welding, mobile robotics, patisserie and confectionery, health and social care, plumbing and heating, wall and floor tiling, concrete construction work, cyber security, carpentry, among others.  The skill competitions will be held at 14 Partner Institutes (PIs) in Chandigarh (12), Himachal Pradesh (1) and Uttar Pradesh (1) – refer to Annexure 1.

The following is the state-wise participant number:

The competitions will be conducted on 16-17 November, following which two winners (one gold and one silver) in each skill will be felicitated at the closing ceremony on 18 November.

IndiaSkills is designed to demonstrate the highest standard of skilling in the country and make vocational training aspirational for the youth. The winners of IndiaSkills 2021 North will compete with the gold and silver medalists of other regional competitions—East (Patna), West (Gandhinagar) and South (Visakhapatnam). This will be followed by a National Competition in Bangalore, Karnataka scheduled in December 2021. The final participants from these competitions will under undergo rigorous training for about nine months, before they represent India at WorldSkills Shanghai, China in 2022.

Hon’ble Shri Banwarilal Purohit said, “IndiaSkills is not just a competition, it is a unique platform that allows us to discover young talent from the remotest parts of the country, makes skills aspirational and empowers the youth. The competition enables showcasing India’s capabilities to the world and facilitates learning of evolving technologies and advancements. The biennial event brings together the youth, governments, industry bodies, communities, institutes, and educators to help prepare the young talent of today for the challenges of tomorrow by giving them a competitive platform.”

Shri Dilip Kumar said, “I am certain that IndiaSkills Competition will inspire many other young people to develop a passion for skills, pursue excellence and look for an opportunity to represent India globally. The level of dedication displayed by our industry partners and trainers in supporting young candidates by aligning skill training to global training standards will raise the benchmark of skill development. Championships like these also facilitate cooperation among governments, industry, and academia.”

Shri Sarpreet Singh Gill said, “The introduction of seven new-age skills in IndiaSkills 2021 is encouraging as it shows that the competition adapts to the ever-changing technologies and job market, especially amid and after the Covid-19 pandemic. India has a young workforce, and we must step up our skilling, reskilling and upskilling efforts to provide it with ample opportunities, making it employable that would lead to significant contribution to strengthening the Indian economy.”

Prakash Sharma said, “National Skill Development Corporation has undertaken several initiatives of the Government of India towards skilling and enabling its ‘Skill India’ mission. IndiaSkills Competition is one such initiative that not only identifies skilled and talented youth but contributes to the country’s skill ecosystem by bringing the best on one platform and moulding them to face their peers on an international stage. The Regional and National Competitions will help find the finest who will represent India at WorldSkills Shanghai 2022. I wish all the participants the very best.”

Participants for regionals have been selected through competitions organised at the district/cluster and state levels in August-September 2021, which recorded over 250,000 registrations. This year, IndiaSkills Regional Competitions will bring together 1,500 participants from 30 states/union territories across four regions. Patna and Gandhinagar successfully completed the Eastern and Western chapters of IndiaSkills Regionals. Chandigarh is ready to host the IndiaSkills Regional Competition – North, and it will be followed by Visakhapatnam (South). After the regionals, IndiaSkills National Competition will be conducted in December 2021 in Bengaluru, Karnataka. Winners of the IndiaSkills National Competition will undergo training to represent India at WorldSkills Shanghai in October 2022.

During these competitions, participants get multi-level industry training through boot camps and programs such as project-based training, industry and corporate training, exposure visits to industries, mind coaching, and personality development. NSDC, through its Sector Skill Councils (SSCs) and partner institutions, trains the candidates for the competitions and for future endeavors as well.

NSDC has been leading India’s participation at the WorldSkills Competitions. WorldSkills, the gold standard for skill excellence, is a biennial event that records participation from over 80 nations. Skilled and talented youth from across the world compete on the international platform in multiple trades. In the previous edition of WorldSkills held in Kazan, Russia in 2019, India ranked 13 of 63 countries that participated in the global event. More than 1,350 candidates participated in 56 skills, and team India gave its best-ever performance by winning four medals—one gold, one silver, two bronze medals—along with 15 Medallions of Excellence.