The National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), which is part of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), hosts the India Skills National Competition every year, giving competitors from underprivileged backgrounds a chance to display their skills and build confidence. The majority of the participants demonstrate their abilities in fields such as beauty treatment, cyber security, floristry, roboct system integration, cloud computing, water technology, painting and decorating, health and social care, and electrical installations. The majority of the contestants have no official training or college degrees, and they work as technicians for low pay before winning the India Skills competition. When a competitor does well in national and international tournaments, he will receive numerous employment offers from firms eager to hire highly skilled workers.
The current batch of contenders is being trained by previous editions' competitors for the competition, which will be held in Delhi from January 6 to 10, 2022. The winners of the India Skills competition will compete in the WorldSkills Shanghai 2022 competition on behalf of their country.
Sumanth Santemavathuru Chikkabettiah of Karnataka, who won the medallion of excellence in the mechatronics skills category at the WorldSkills competition in Kazan in 2019, received technical training through this competition. "Because my father couldn't afford to pay for my schooling, I had intended to drop out." I learned about Toyota Kirloskar's Bengaluru school, which offered a three-year technical education course with no formal curriculum." Sumanth was able to obtain work in the same industry thanks to the course. "“My performance in WordSkills competition in Kazan got me a promotion and motivated me to pursue BTech,” says Sumanth, who is currently working as a maintenance member at Toyota Kirloskar Motor in Bengaluru.
Shahad Shahida Manzil from Kozhikode, Kerala, is a paint technician who revamps old and damaged cars. After completing a three-month course at Maruti training school in Kozhikode got a job. Winner of a gold medal in IndiaSkills 2016, Shahad participated in the UK Skills competition and later went to the BASF Academy, Indonesia for training. He went on to win a medallion of excellence at WorldSkills 2017 in Abu Dhabi. Participation in IndiaSkills not only refined his skills but also opened new avenues for his future. “Starting at a meagre salary of Rs 4,000, I now earn Rs 46,000. I train other participants for skill competitions,” says Shahad, who helps new participants refrain from making mistakes he made as a beginner.
Vaibhav Raut, son of a turner fitter from Boisar in Maharashtra,waspursuing a diploma in electrical engineering when he first heard about the NationalSkills Competition. “We didn’t have advanced devices in our college, but we went on to win zonal and state competition in 2018. I got to work at Schneider Electric that sent me for training in Bengaluru. I also went to Australia and Abu Dhabi, for international exposure in skills,” says Raut.