Indian team creates history at WorldSkills event in Russia, wins 4 medals

Kazan (Russia) (PTI): A jubilant Indian team created history at the 45th WorldSkills competition held here on Tuesday, winning one gold, one silver and two bronze medals in the country's best performance since it first participated at the event in 2007. In 2017, the Indian team had won one silver, one bronze and nine medallions of excellence. The winners were announced at a glittering ceremony at the 45th WorldSkills competition here in the capital of Tatarstan.

S Aswatha Narayana, 25, won the gold medal in water technology. Pranav Nutalapati, 17, won silver medal in web technologies, WorldSkill organisers said. Sanjoy Pramanik, 21, from West Bengal and Shweta Ratanpura, 22 from Maharastra both won bronze medals in Jewellery and graphic design technology respectively, they said. India, with a strong 48-member contingent, is among 63 countries participating in the world's biggest international vocational skill competition, WorldSkills Kazan 2019.

"This time we expect India to occupy a slot between one and 10 among 63 participating countries here...We are trying to bring forward the talents of the Indian youth," said Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Minister Mahendra Nath Pandey who was at the event earlier. An estimated about 2.5 lakh people had attended the opening ceremony at Kazan Arena where the youth from 63 nations had showcased their cultures.

The Indian team - the sixth largest contingent at the WorldSkills - stole hearts with a performance that brought alive the rich diversity and beauty of the vast country. Dmitry Medvedev, Prime Minister, Russian Federation had thrown open the six-day event on August 22 that saw more than 1,300 competitors from around the globe competing across 56 skills and trades. Contestants from India who are representing the country at the global stage have made it at WorldSkills Kazan 2019 after a gruelling selection procedure where they went through a series of skill competitions conducted at different levels in India.

The team participated in 44 skills including mobile robotics, prototype modelling, hairdressing, baking, confectionary & patisserie, welding, brick laying, car painting and floristry. Most of these competitors, whose average age is 22, come from very humble backgrounds from tier 2 or tier 3 cities in India. About 35 per cent of team members' parents are either employed in the agriculture sector or are working as daily wage earners. Forty-four skill experts and 14 interpreters for various Indian languages have also accompanied the participants in Kazan to support them at the event.

The selection of Team India for WorldSkills 2019 began in January 2018, with the roll out of a scheme on IndiaSkills Competitions. More than 22 states collaborated and organised close to 500 district and state level competitions between March and April 2018.

The winners at these events, competed at four regional competitions organised at Jaipur, Lucknow, Bangalore and Bhubaneswar. The winners from the regional competitions further competed at the National Competition organised from 2nd to 6th October 2018 at Aerocity Grounds in Delhi. The team India includes participants from all over the country, including 6 from the North-Eastern region.