Mumbai: Manas Garge (9), has always had a fascination for plumbing. The Class IV student of Saraswati Vidyalaya, Thane, is the go-to person for all plumbing defects at home and has a natural comfort with tools of the trade.
On Friday, Garge was pitted against over 800 boys and girls demonstrating their mastery of various skills at ‘Mahakaushalya,’ the Maharashtra State Skill Competition’s first zonal-level contest organised by the Maharashtra State Skill Development Society and Confederation of Indian Industry at the St. Joseph’s Industrial Training Institute (ITI), Kurla. “My father found out about this competition online and enrolled me so I could have something to do during the vacations,” said Garge.
The competition had a written as well as practical component. The excitement in the auditorium was palpable, as the students rushed through their papers to prove their levels of knowledge vis-a-vis other equally-spirited candidates.
The students had come from Mumbai, Thane and Konkan, and demonstrated their skills across 32 fields in mechanical engineering, fashion technology, car painting, graphic design, restaurant services and cooking. Students of Kurla and Mulund ITIs, technicians from companies like Mahindra & Mahindra, and Ford too joined the college students. Garge was the youngest of the lot.
Thursday’s competition will be followed by individual competitions in Pune, Nashik and Nagpur on May 8, and the winners from these zones will participate in a State-wide event on May 13 and 14. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is expected to attend the State-level competition. Winners will compete for a spot in the World Skills Competition in Russia next year.
Participants from Pearls Academy, Andheri felt an opportunity like this would help individuals recognise their traits and bring forth what they were best at. “Exhibiting the right skill and talent is important and that should start at a lower level,” said Amarr Prabhu, principal of St. Joseph's ITI, under the Don Bosco Centre of Learning.
CII, on its part, relies on competitions like these for exhibiting the importance of skill development. Terming the initiative as the ‘Olympics’ of skills, Jibak Dasgupta, head, CII Maharashtra said, “Exploring various abilities will help people generate a livelihood. This is a push to the young population, which requires well-developed skills to survive in the international space.”
On the purpose behind creating such platforms, Anil Jadhao, director, Directorate of Vocational Education and Training, Maharashtra said, “The state has enormous talent, but no base to develop it. Through this competition, we will provide that base and have a global impact.”
